Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: New Mexico Schedule PIT-ADJ is the page attached to Form PIT-1 for deductions and exemptions from federal adjusted gross income. Line 10 covers Railroad Retirement Act annuities and benefits, and line 24 is the exemption for armed forces retirement pay. The totals carry to PIT-1 line 15 through line 28 of the schedule.
What this form does
The schedule opens with its own purpose statement: “Taxpayers who are required to make certain additions or who are eligible to take certain deductions or exemptions from federal adjusted gross income” must complete it, and it closes with the instruction “Attach this Schedule PIT-ADJ to your Personal Income Tax Return, Form PIT-1.” The retirement lines are in the group headed “NEW MEXICO DEDUCTIONS AND EXEMPTIONS FROM FEDERAL ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME”.
The PIT-1 instructions list when the schedule is needed: “You must complete and attach Schedule PIT-ADJ if any of the following are true:” Two of the items are about retirement: “You have Railroad Retirement Act annuities and benefits, or Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act sick pay included in your federal taxable income.” “You, your spouse, or both have armed forces retirement pay and may qualify for an exemption.”
For the wider state picture, see New Mexico retirement taxes and whether New Mexico taxes pensions. Military retirement has a page of its own at New Mexico treatment of military retirement.
Who it applies to
For line 24 the instructions state the test: “To qualify for this exemption, the taxpayer must be an armed forces retiree or the surviving spouse of an armed forces retiree.” They define the term this way: “means a former member of the armed forces of the United States who has qualified by years of service or disability to separate from military service with lifetime benefits.”
The instructions also cover couples: “If you are married filing jointly and both spouses qualify, each qualifying armed forces retiree may claim an exemption in an amount equal to $30,000 of armed forces retirement pay includable, except for this exemption, in net income.”
For line 10 the condition is that the benefits were taxed federally: “were part of your federal taxable income, enter the total of those amounts.”
The PIT-1 instructions also have a short paragraph on retirement income of enrolled members of a New Mexico Indian nation, tribe or pueblo. It ends with the limit: “You may not exempt retirement or pension income from employment outside the boundaries of your reservation or pueblo grant or outside the boundaries of land defined as” The PIT-ADJ instructions repeat the principle under lines 11, 11a and 11b: “Retirement or pension income is exempt when the retirement or pension is the result of employment within the boundaries of the reservation or pueblo grant or within the boundaries of land defined as” Read the full paragraphs in the booklet if that describes you.
The lines, one by one
| Line | What the form says |
|---|---|
| Schedule, purpose | “Taxpayers who are required to make certain additions or who are eligible to take certain deductions or exemptions from federal adjusted gross income” |
| Schedule, group heading | “NEW MEXICO DEDUCTIONS AND EXEMPTIONS FROM FEDERAL ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME” |
| Line 10 | “Railroad Retirement Act annuities and benefits, and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act sick pay”. “Attach Forms RRB-1099 and RRB-1099-R” |
| Line 10, instructions | “If your Railroad Retirement Act annuities and benefits, or your Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act sick pay were part of your federal taxable income, enter the total of those amounts.” “These types of income are exempt from state income taxes.” |
| Line 10, forms | “Attach the form(s) you receive to your return.” |
| Line 24 | “Exemption for armed forces retirement pay. See PIT-ADJ Instructions” |
| Line 24, instructions | “Enter the amount of deduction from net income for which you qualify.” |
| Line 28 | “TOTAL DEDUCTIONS AND EXEMPTIONS. Add lines 7 through 27. Enter here and on Form PIT-1, line 15.” |
Line 24 on the schedule is a one-line label that points to the instructions, so the instructions carry the rule. Pensions and IRA withdrawals that are not railroad retirement or armed forces retirement have no separate line on this schedule. They are described on Form 1040 lines 5a and 5b and Form 1040 lines 4a and 4b, and New Mexico treatment of 401(k) and IRA withdrawals gives the state view. The 1099-R boxes explained guide shows which 1099-R box is which.
The figures the form prints
The one dollar figure for the retirement lines sits in the line 24 instruction, and it is quoted whole: “Each qualifying armed forces retiree or surviving spouse of an armed forces retiree may claim an exemption in an amount equal to $30,000 of armed forces retirement pay includable, except for this exemption, in net income.”
The instructions repeat the figure for couples where both qualify, as quoted in the previous section.
Where the result goes next
The schedule total is the destination: “TOTAL DEDUCTIONS AND EXEMPTIONS. Add lines 7 through 27. Enter here and on Form PIT-1, line 15.”
The PIT-1 instructions for line 15 say the same from the other side: “If you completed PIT-ADJ, lines 7 to 27, on PIT-1, line 15, enter the Total Deductions and Exemptions from PIT-ADJ, line 28.”
The PIT-1 instructions also tell filers to collect their statements: “collect all your federal Form(s) 1099-R, RRB-1099 and SSA-1099.”
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 PIT-ADJ schedule, the Instructions for 2025 PIT-ADJ and the 2025 PIT-1 Personal Income Tax Return Instructions for tax year 2025, the current files New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department served on 2026-10-21. Check the edition printed on your own form and use that edition’s line numbers.
Common mistakes
- Claiming line 24 without being the retiree or the surviving spouse. The instructions say “the taxpayer must be an armed forces retiree or the surviving spouse of an armed forces retiree.”
- Overlooking the railroad forms on line 10. The schedule says “Attach Forms RRB-1099 and RRB-1099-R” and the instructions say “Attach the form(s) you receive to your return.”
- Entering railroad amounts that were not taxed federally. The instructions limit line 10 to amounts that “were part of your federal taxable income”.
Related: New Mexico retirement taxes, whether New Mexico taxes pensions, New Mexico treatment of military retirement, New Mexico treatment of 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, and Form 1040 lines 5a and 5b.
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Answer againSources
- 2025 PIT-ADJ, Schedule of Additions, Deductions and Exemptions, New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department: realfile.tax.newmexico.gov
- Instructions for 2025 PIT-ADJ, New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department: realfile.tax.newmexico.gov
- 2025 PIT-1 Personal Income Tax Return Instructions, New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department: realfile.tax.newmexico.gov
Read from the state revenue documents linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the state revenue department is the right place to confirm anything consequential.