Does Mississippi Tax Federal Pensions (FERS, CSRS)? 2026

Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: No, in general. The 2025 instructions say retirement income “from federal, state, and private retirement systems are exempt in total”, so a federal civil service annuity falls inside the exemption.

What Mississippi does with a FERS or CSRS annuity

QuestionWhat the Mississippi documents say
What the source saysThe 2025 Mississippi instructions say retirement income from federal, state, and private retirement systems is exempt in total, so a federal civil service annuity falls inside that exemption.
Change for 2026No 2026 change is printed in the state documents cited here.

In the Mississippi documents’ own words

  • “Pensions and annuities that are taxable as early or excess distributions” (2025 Mississippi Resident Income Tax Instructions (Form 80-100))
  • “do not qualify for exemption from Mississippi income tax” (2025 Mississippi Resident Income Tax Instructions (Form 80-100))
  • “Taxable pensions and annuities (complete Form 80-107)” (2025 Mississippi Resident Income Tax Return (Form 80-105))

How this differs from other pensions in Mississippi

The instructions treat federal retirement income the same as state and private retirement income, all exempt in total. The exemption does not reach early or excess distributions or separation pay. See also Does Mississippi tax pensions? and military retirement pay.

FERS, CSRS and your TSP

The instructions say deferred compensation plan distributions received before retirement age or service requirements are taxable, but they do not name TSP or IRA withdrawals. For the Thrift Savings Plan itself, see state tax on TSP withdrawals and the TSP calculator.

Where this rule sits on the Mississippi return

Qualifying retirement income is left out of Mississippi taxable income. The return has a line for taxable pensions and annuities, which is where anything that does not qualify is reported.

Checks before you rely on this answer

  • Confirm the payments are regular retirement payments and not an early or excess distribution.
  • Report only the part that does not qualify on the taxable pensions and annuities line.
  • Check any deferred compensation distribution received before retirement age or service requirements were met, because those are taxable.

What the Mississippi documents leave open

The instructions do not name CSRS, FERS or the TSP, so the federal case rests on the phrase federal retirement systems. No statute text was archived, the 2025 flat rate is not stated in the prose read, and no 2026 booklet exists yet.

Common mistakes

  • Assuming every distribution is exempt. Pensions and annuities that are taxable as early or excess distributions do not qualify.
  • Assuming separation pay counts. The exemption does not reach separation pay.

Related: Does Mississippi tax pensions?, Mississippi military retirement pay, Mississippi retirement deduction line by line, and FERS, TSP and Social Security sequencing.

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Sources

Read from the state documents linked above on October 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice.