Does West Virginia Tax Social Security?
West Virginia no longer taxes Social Security: a three-year phase-out (35% exempt for 2024, 65% for 2025) reaches 100% exemption beginning with tax year 2026.
State Tax Rate
No SS tax (fully phased out for 2026)
Status
100% exempt beginning tax year 2026
What West Virginia's exemption does and doesn't cover
Scope of the exemption
- Beginning tax year 2026, 100% of Social Security benefits are exempt from West Virginia income tax — no age test, no income limit.
- The exemption is state-only. Benefits remain federally taxable: up to 85% can be included in federal taxable income once provisional income passes $25,000 (single) or $32,000 (married filing jointly).
- Tax year 2025 was the final partial year — 65% exempt — so a 2025 return filed in early 2026 is not covered by the full exemption.
Key facts about West Virginia and Social Security
The 2024 law phased out West Virginia’s Social Security tax over three years: 35% exempt (2024) → 65% (2025) → 100% (2026).
Tax year 2026 is the first year West Virginia benefits are fully exempt for every income level.
Before the phase-out, WV exempted benefits only below $50,000/$100,000 AGI.
West Virginia is the most recent state to finish exempting benefits, which is why many 2025-vintage guides still show it as a taxing state.
Tax-smart strategy for West Virginia residents
West Virginia is the one state where the year you realize income still matters for the transition itself: 2025 was 65% exempt and 2026 is fully exempt, so income pulled forward into 2025 met a different rule than the same income in 2026. Going forward the state question is settled, which means your claiming decision here is driven almost entirely by federal provisional income and longevity — not by state tax. That is a simpler problem than most states face, but it is not a smaller one: the federal 85% inclusion still turns on when you claim and how you sequence withdrawals.
Frequently Asked Questions
About West Virginia Social Security tax
Social Security tax rules in other states, 2026
Beyond state tax: the numbers that move more
The state tax on benefits is usually a few hundred dollars a year. These decide thousands — and three of them are set in Washington, not in the statehouse.
- Optimal Social Security Strategy for Married CouplesCoordinate both records — spousal excess, survivor protection, and the claiming-age combinations that maximize the household's lifetime benefit.
- Social Security & Medicare 2027: Every Number in One PlaceCOLA, Part B, IRMAA brackets, Part D, earnings-test limits — each figure labeled official or projected, updated in place as agencies announce.
- Social Security Claiming Timing and the IRMAA LookbackOne dollar over a threshold applies the surcharge for the whole year — decided by a tax return from two years ago. How claiming feeds in.
- SECURE 2.0's Roth Catch-Up and Your Social Security TaxHow the forced-Roth catch-up rule, effective 2026, quietly changes how high earners' benefits are taxed.