This post is to help clarify how to report a subtraction from North Carolina income for applicable military retirement benefits. There are two input fields located within the Subtraction from Income menu inside the North Carolina state program.
- “Amount of taxable retirement benefits that qualify for the Bailey Settlement included on Federal return” – In short, the Bailey Settlement subtraction means that North Carolina may not tax certain retirement benefits received by retirees (or beneficiaries of retirees) of the state of North Carolina and its local governments or by United States government retirees (including military). Any military retirement income reported in this input field in the program cannot also be reported in Item 2 below. This will create a double-dip in subtraction in the calculation. Entries here carry to Line 19 of the D-400 Schedule S.
- “Retired US Armed Forces Income” – In short, Line 20 of D-400, Schedule S, allows for a subtraction of certain retirement benefits received by a retired member of the United States Armed Forces not deducted on Line 19 (Item 1 above).
Essentially, any qualified retirement income subtracted under the Bailey Settlement on Line 19 cannot also be claimed on Line 20 of D-400, Schedule S. Also, any amount qualified to be subtracted on Line 20 for certain retired US Armed Forces income cannot have also been subtracted on Line 19.