Minnesota to Texas Retirement Taxes (2026): Every Tax That Changes

Updated July 25, 2026. Quick answer (2026): Moving from Minnesota to Texas in retirement, you stop paying Minnesota income tax on withdrawals and leave a Minnesota death tax behind. Four separate taxes change when you move — state income tax on withdrawals, state estate tax, state inheritance tax, and what probate costs your heirs. Most comparisons only price the first one.

Minnesota vs Texas: every tax that changes

Every cell is quoted from our statute-cited 51-jurisdiction dataset. Download the full dataset as CSV.

1. What changes on your annual tax bill

Minnesota taxes retirement withdrawals: Pensions, 401(k), and IRA distributions generally fully taxable. Texas does not. On a $100,000 annual withdrawal, the Minnesota bill is whatever its graduated to 9.85% (4 brackets, 5.35%-9.85%) schedule produces; in Texas it is $0. Social Security is treated as follows — Minnesota: Partially taxed: full subtraction of federally taxable SS if AGI ≤ ~$84,490 single / ~$108,320 MFJ (TY2025, indexed); Texas: Not taxed (no state income tax).

2. What changes at death: state estate tax

This is usually the larger number. Minnesota levies an estate tax — yes – $3,000,000 exclusion (unchanged since 2020, not indexed); rates 13%-16%; additional qualified small business / farm property deduction up to $2,000,000 (combined max $5,000,000). Official 2025 Form M706 instructions confirm: ‘For 2025 decedents, the exclusion amount and tax filing threshold is $3,000,000… maximum qualified small business property and farm property deduction amount is $2,000,000’ — and Texas levies none (none). Establishing domicile in Texas removes that exposure for assets that are not Minnesota real property.

3. What changes at death: state inheritance tax

Neither state levies an inheritance tax. Minnesota: none Texas: none

4. The one nobody prices: what probate costs your heirs

Minnesota uses a reasonable-fee fee model (UPC state: reasonable compensation (Minn. Stat. §524.3-719); no percentage schedule.); Texas uses a hybrid model (Executor/administrator standard compensation is statutory (Tex. Estates Code §352.002): 5% commission on cash actually received plus 5% on cash actually paid out (excluding e.g. cash on hand/bank deposits at death and distributions to heirs), capped in aggregate at 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate subject to administration. Attorney fees are reasonable. Note: most Texas probates are independent administrations where compensation is often governed by the will. Verified.). Filing fees — Minnesota: ~$310-$365 to open probate (first-paper district court filing fee plus county law library fee; identical for informal and formal) — Minn. Stat. §357.021 and mncourts.gov fee schedule; certified letters $14 each Texas: County clerk / statutory probate court fees vary by county; typically ~$250-$450 to file an application for probate. Representative range from county schedules, not verified against a single official statewide source.

Full detail: probate cost by state and small-estate limits by state.

Does this actually apply to you?

Below $1,000,000 no US state estate tax applies anywhere — Oregon has the lowest threshold in the country and that is where it starts. So for most estates the whole “escape the death tax” framing is irrelevant, and the only thing that changes when you move is your annual income tax. Here is exactly where the line falls for this pair:

Thresholds are the 2026 figures in our verified dataset and apply to the taxable estate. Federal estate tax is separate and far higher. Test your own number with the comparison tool.

Probate cost in each state, specifically

Minnesota uses a “reasonable fee” standard with no schedule, and its small-estate route does not clear a solely owned house. Texas uses a hybrid standard — a statutory bound with reasonableness inside it, and its statute does not say whether that route reaches real property. The two states differ on that question, which is exactly the kind of thing a move changes. Full figures with the governing statute, the court filing fee and the small-estate threshold: Minnesota probate cost and Texas probate cost.

Four taxes, two states, one order of operations

Everything above changes together: what Minnesota stops taking on withdrawals, what Texas does not take at death, and what probate costs in each. The order you do things in — when you establish domicile, when you convert, when you retitle property — changes the total, and some of it cannot be undone afterwards. If a move is genuinely on the table, here is what to look for in an advisor who knows both Minnesota and Texas. If you would rather price it yourself first, the two-state comparison tool is free and asks for no email.

Will Minnesota still tax me after I move to Texas?

Not on your retirement withdrawals, once you genuinely change domicile — but that is a harder test than a change of address, and what you leave behind stays in reach.

• Domicile is a test, not a mailing address. A departing state can and does audit residency. Days present, voter registration, driver’s licence, where your doctors and advisers are, and where you keep what you value all count.
• Real property left behind stays taxable. Keeping a home in Minnesota can keep part of the estate within reach of Minnesota rules even after you become a Texas resident.
• A Roth conversion is taxed where you live in the year you convert. Sequencing a conversion after establishing the new domicile is often worth more than the annual saving — see how all 51 jurisdictions tax Roth conversions.

If you keep a home in Minnesota, what happens at death?

Changing domicile moves you. It does not move the house. Minnesota levies an estate tax, and it reaches a nonresident decedent’s real property situated there — so a home kept behind after the move stays within Minnesota’s reach even once Texas is your legal home for every other purpose. Minnesota gross estate is the federal gross estate excluding property with situs outside Minnesota.

File if Minnesota-situs property is in the federal gross estate AND the federal gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts within three years exceeds $3,000,000. The practical consequence is the part most summaries skip: Minnesota disregards pass-through entities for situs, so holding the property through an LLC does not move it out of state. Authority: Minn. Stat. ch. 291; Form M706 instructions.

This is the exposure that survives a move, and it is the one worth pricing before the move rather than after. The house also stays within that state’s probate jurisdiction, so the estate faces a separate ancillary proceeding there on top of the probate where you live — the ancillary probate calculator prices that second proceeding. Confirm the current figures with the state revenue department or a licensed professional before acting — thresholds move, and the arithmetic depends on the whole estate, not just the house.

Full state detail

Every figure above is summarized. The complete statute-cited breakdown for each state: Minnesota retirement taxes and Texas retirement taxes. To compare any other pair, start at the retirement tax relocation hub.

Widen the comparison

This page prices one corridor. To see every destination Minnesota retirees consider and every origin state moving to Texas, start there instead. For any pair not covered, the retirement tax comparison tool runs all 51 jurisdictions, and the probate cost calculator works out what settling the estate costs in each.

Talking this through

Relocation timing, Roth conversion sequencing and estate exposure interact, and the order you do them in changes the total. If you want a second opinion, understand what it should cost first — see our advisor cost guide.

Disclosure: the button above routes to an advertising partner and Clear Money Guide may earn a referral fee. See our Affiliate Disclosure.

Primary sources

• Minn. Stat. § 290.0132 (SS, military, public pension subtractions)
• MN DOR: Social Security Benefit Subtraction
• Qualified Public Pension Subtraction
• Minn. Stat. sec. 291.016
• Minn. Stat. sec. 291.03
• Tex. Const. art. VIII, § 24-a
• Minn. Stat. §524.3-719
• Minn. Stat. §524.3-1201
• Minn. Stat. §357.021
• Tex. Estates Code §352.002
• Tex. Estates Code §205.001
• Tex. Estates Code ch. 257

Methodology: every figure is quoted from Clear Money Guide’s statute-cited 51-jurisdiction datasets, compiled from state statutes, session laws and revenue-department publications and adversarially verified in July 2026. Nothing here is personalized tax or legal advice. Confirm your own facts with a qualified adviser before you move.