Vermont to Florida Retirement Taxes (2026): Every Tax That Changes

Updated July 26, 2026. Quick answer (2026): Moving from Vermont to Florida in retirement, you stop paying Vermont income tax on withdrawals and leave a Vermont 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.

Vermont vs Florida: 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

Vermont taxes retirement withdrawals: Pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals generally fully taxable; Florida does not. On a $100,000 annual withdrawal, the Vermont bill is whatever its graduated, 3.35% to 8.75% top rate schedule produces; in Florida it is $0. Social Security is treated as follows — Vermont: Partially taxed: full exemption if AGI is at or below $55,000 (single/HoH) or $70,000 (MFJ) – thresholds raised $5,000 by Act 71 of 2025, effective TY2025; Florida: not taxed (no state income tax)

2. What changes at death: state estate tax

This is usually the larger number. Vermont levies an estate tax — yes – $5,000,000 exclusion (since 2021, not indexed); flat 16% on the Vermont taxable estate above $5M. VT Dept. of Taxes: tax ‘is assessed only on the gross estate value exceeding $5 million’ — and Florida levies none (none (constitutionally prohibited)). Establishing domicile in Florida removes that exposure for assets that are not Vermont real property.

3. What changes at death: state inheritance tax

Neither state levies an inheritance tax. Vermont: none Florida: none

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

Vermont uses a reasonable-fee fee model (No statutory percentage schedule; executor/administrator and attorney compensation is allowed by the Probate Division as reasonable. Exact compensation section not pinned to a primary source this pass.); Florida uses a statutory-percentage model (Presumptive (not mandatory) statutory schedules. Attorney (Fla. Stat. §733.6171): $1,500 for estates ≤$40,000; +$750 for $40-70k; +$750 for $70-100k; 3% of the next $900,000; 2.5% from $1M-$3M; 2% from $3M-$5M; 1.5% from $5M-$10M; 1% above $10M — presumed reasonable, must be disclosed as negotiable. PR (§733.617): 3% of first $1M; 2.5% next $4M; 2% next $5M; 1.5% above $10M.). Filing fees — Vermont: Probate filing fees are a statutory sliding scale by estate size under 32 V.S.A. §1434 (small estates pay a reduced fee); exact current tiers not verified this pass — marked not found rather than guessed. Florida: ~$400 formal administration; ~$345 summary administration (estates ≥$1,000); ~$235 summary <$1,000 — clerk fees per Fla. Stat. §28.2401 (base $395/$340 plus $4 service charge)

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

Vermont uses a “reasonable fee” standard with no schedule, and its small-estate route does not clear a solely owned house. Florida uses a statutory percentage schedule, so the fee is computable exactly, and its small-estate route does not clear a solely owned house. Both states land in the same bucket on that question. Full figures with the governing statute, the court filing fee and the small-estate threshold: Vermont probate cost and Florida probate cost.

Four taxes, two states, one order of operations

Everything above changes together: what Vermont stops taking on withdrawals, what Florida 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 Vermont and Florida. If you would rather price it yourself first, the two-state comparison tool is free and asks for no email.

Will Vermont still tax me after I move to Florida?

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 Vermont can keep part of the estate within reach of Vermont rules even after you become a Florida 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 Vermont, what happens at death?

Changing domicile moves you. It does not move the house. Vermont 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 Vermont’s reach even once Florida is your legal home for every other purpose. A Vermont return may be required where the decedent owned Vermont-situs real estate or tangible personal property, even if domiciled elsewhere.

Tentative Vermont tax on the whole base, multiplied by the Vermont share. Exclusion $5,000,000, flat 16%. The practical consequence is the part most summaries skip: a return can be required on the Vermont property alone even though the decedent was domiciled elsewhere. Authority: 32 V.S.A. ch. 190; Form E-1 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: Vermont retirement taxes and Florida 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 Vermont retirees consider and every origin state moving to Florida, 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

• 32 V.S.A. § 5830e (retirement income exemptions)
• Vermont Act 71 (2025, S.51)
• VT Dept. of Taxes: Social Security Exemption page
• 32 V.S.A. sec. 7442a
• Fla. Const. art. VII (no personal income tax)
• 14 V.S.A. §1902
• 32 V.S.A. §1434
• Fla. Stat. §733.6171
• Fla. Stat. §733.617
• Fla. Stat. §735.201 (as amended by Ch. 2026-57)
• Fla. Stat. §28.2401

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.