Updated October 7, 2026. Quick answer: Only if you ask. The State Tax Department’s guide for seniors says “you may be able to have West Virginia income tax withheld” from pension payments, and the step is “Contact your pension payer and request form IT-104.”
West Virginia withholding at a glance
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Is it required? | No. A resident who receives a pension may be able to have West Virginia income tax withheld on request |
| Rate or amount | A dollar amount you enter on line 6 of Form IT-104; no rate is stated for pension payments |
| How to start or stop it | Form WV/IT-104, completed and presented to the payer |
| Direct rollover | Not stated in the documents read |
| Changed for 2026? | No change stated; the guide read is the 2019 edition and the form is Rev. 03/2023 |
What the West Virginia documents say
The State Tax Department’s Tax Tips for Senior Citizens has a section on withholding from a pension. It says that if you are a resident who receives a pension, “you may be able to have West Virginia income tax withheld” from the payments, and tells the reader to “Contact your pension payer and request form IT-104.”
Form IT-104 is the Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate. Its instructions say “When requesting withholding from pension and annuity payments you must present” the completed form to the payor, and “Enter the amount you want withheld on line 6.”
A $50,000 withdrawal: cash in hand or a direct rollover
Take a $50,000 401(k) withdrawal paid to you. The IRS says a taxable eligible rollover distribution paid to you from an employer plan is subject to “mandatory income tax withholding (generally at a rate of 20%)”, which on $50,000 is $10,000 (computed as $50,000 times 20%) held back for federal tax. West Virginia sets no percentage for it: the West Virginia amount withheld is $0 unless you give the payer a completed IT-104, and then it is the amount you enter on line 6.
The other path is a direct rollover to an IRA or another plan. For federal tax the IRS says “The mandatory withholding doesn’t apply in a direct rollover”. The West Virginia documents read do not say how a direct rollover is treated for state withholding, so confirm it with the payer before choosing.
What a mover should know
This page is about West Virginia as a state of residence. An instruction line written for a nonresident or part-year filer is not the rule for a resident, and none of the documents read settles a part-year or two-state case, so check each state’s own rule. The federal side is the same everywhere; CMG’s federal 20% withholding on a pension lump sum page covers it.
What the documents do not say
- The documents read cite no statute, state no rate for pension payments, and do not address a direct rollover. The senior-citizen guide is the 2019 edition and speaks of pensions, not IRA or 401(k) withdrawals by name; the form read is the Rev. 03/2023 version. No change is stated for 2026.
Common mistakes
- Treating the senior guide’s pension wording as a rule for an IRA withdrawal; the guide read speaks of pension payments.
- Looking for a percentage on Form IT-104; the pension instruction asks for an amount on line 6.
- Assuming the answer for one state applies to another, or that state withholding settles the state tax owed at filing.
Related: how West Virginia taxes 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, West Virginia retirement taxes, retirement withholding calculator, and retirement taxes by state.
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Answer againSources
- TSD-413 West Virginia Tax Tips for Senior Citizens: https://tax.wv.gov/Documents/TSD/tsd413.pdf
- WV/IT-104 Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate: https://tax.wv.gov/Documents/Withholding/it104.pdf
- IRS Tax Topic 413, Rollovers from retirement plans: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc413
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 7, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a tax professional or the state agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.