Updated September 5, 2026. Quick answer: No. The District subtracts all Social Security and Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits from taxable income, with no income limit.
Selling stocks, funds or real estate has its own page: does District of Columbia tax capital gains.
Confidence note: high. This page is scoped to Social Security taxation specifically. For the state’s full retirement-tax picture (pensions, tax rates, estate and probate), see how District of Columbia taxes retirement income generally.
Does DC tax Social Security?
No. The District subtracts all Social Security and Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits from taxable income, with no income threshold or age test, so the exemption is full at every income level.
How District of Columbia taxes Social Security benefits
| State personal income tax | Yes |
|---|---|
| Social Security treatment | Not taxed |
| How it works | D.C. Code § 47-1803.02(a)(2)(L) subtracts “social security and tier 1 railroad retirement benefits subject to taxation under § 86 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,” confirmed by the DC Office of Tax and Revenue’s own Form D-40 instructions, which list this as a subtraction line before computing DC taxable income. |
| Income threshold / phase-out | No income threshold or age test; full exemption at every income level. |
Coordinate this with your overall retirement plan
An adviser can help weigh how much of your Social Security income actually reaches you after state tax, whether the timing of other withdrawals affects that, and how it fits the rest of your plan, but that does not replace the numbers in your own return.
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Figures verified against D.C. Code § 47-1803.02 and the DC Office of Tax and Revenue 2025 D-40 booklet on September 29, 2026.
Statute and sources
Governing citation: D.C. Code § 47-1803.02(a)(2)(L).
Read September 5, 2026.
Related: how District of Columbia taxes retirement income generally · does District of Columbia tax Roth conversions? · Roth conversion taxes, all 51 jurisdictions.
General information drawn from each state’s own published statutes and revenue-department guidance, not legal, tax or financial advice. Figures and exemption amounts are current as of the date in the quick answer, are set by state law, and can change by future legislation; any pending bill named on this page is not yet law. This page cannot see your own return, which governs. We are not a law firm, a tax adviser, or a fiduciary, and this is not personalized advice.
For your own numbers, run the Retirement Tax Comparison Tool (2026): Compare Any Two States.
See Retirement Tax Relocation (2026): The Four Taxes That Change When You Move for the full state by state breakdown.