Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services

Connecticut Tax Tips for Senior Citizens

Welcome to the Connecticut Tax Tips for Senior Citizens page. This page has been created to provide seniors with the latest tax information needed to file their Connecticut Income Tax Return. Here, seniors will find information on Social Security Benefits, Property Tax Credit and Pensions and Annuities as well as links to the Sales and Use Tax Information, Estate and Gift Tax Information, Real Estate Tax Information, and Trust and Estates Tax Information pages. Visit this page regularly for the latest updates.

Income Tax Return

The Connecticut income tax applies to Connecticut residents, part-year residents, and nonresidents who have income from Connecticut sources. The tax is computed on the Connecticut taxable income. For calendar year filers, the Connecticut income tax return is due on or before April 15 of the next calendar year.

If you are not a calendar year filer, your return is due on or before the fifteenth day of the fourth month following the close of your taxable year. If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the Connecticut income tax return will be treated as timely if the return is mailed or transmitted on the next business day. You may be required to file an income tax return even if you do not owe any tax.

To learn more about:

  • Who must file an income tax,
  • Who is considered a Connecticut resident,
  • Who is not considered a Connecticut resident and more,

Visit the Resident Income Tax Information or the Nonresident/Part-Year Resident Tax Information pages under the Information for Individuals section.

Social Security Benefit Adjustment

Your Social Security benefits are fully exempt from Connecticut income tax if your federal filing status is:

  • Single or married filing separately and your federal adjusted gross income as reported on Line 1 of your Connecticut income tax return is less than $75,000; or
  • Married filing jointly, qualifying widow(er), or head of household and your federal adjusted gross income as reported on Line 1 of your Connecticut income tax return is less than $100,000.

Use the online Social Security Benefit Calculator to calculate the amount of social security benefits subject to Connecticut income tax.

Also, you can calculate the amount of social security subject to tax by completing the Schedule 1 - Social Security Benefit Adjustment Worksheet, included in the Connecticut Resident Income Tax Return Instructions or the Connecticut Nonresident and Part-Year Resident Income Tax Return Instructions.

Tax Calculation Schedules

To compute your Social Security Benefit Adjustment or to determine your Pension or Annuity subtraction modification, select here:

  • Table A - Personal Exemptions
  • Table B – Initial Tax Calculation
  • Table C - 2% Tax Rate Phase-Out Add-Back
  • Table D - Tax Recapture
  • Table E - Personal Tax Credits

Property Tax Credit

If you are a Connecticut resident that has paid qualifying property tax on your residence or motor vehicle you may be eligible for this credit. The maximum property tax credit allowed is $300 per return regardless of filing status.

Complete Schedule 3 – Property Tax Credit in its entirety to determine your eligibility for this credit. This credit is not refundable and it can be used to offset the current year income tax only.

You may also use the online Property Tax Credit Calculator to determine the credit from paying qualifying property tax on your primary residence or motor vehicle during the tax year. If you choose to use the online calculator, you must complete Lines 60 through 63 of Schedule 3, Property Tax Credit found on Form CT‑1040, Page 4 or your credit will be denied.

Withholding From Your Pension

If you receive distributions from certain pensions and annuities, such as from a defined benefit plan, 401(k), 403(b) or 457(b) plans, or distributions from an IRA (other than a Roth IRA), you may qualify for a subtraction modification if your filing status is:

  • Single, married filing separately, or head of household with federal AGI for the taxable year of less than $100,000 or
  • Married filing jointly with federal AGI of less than $150,000.

You may use the CT Pension or Annuity Calculator to determine your Connecticut Schedule 1, Pension or Annuity subtraction modification to be used on the Form CT-1040.

Also, you may use the Pension and Annuity Worksheet of Form CT-1040, Connecticut Resident Income Tax Return Instructions, to determine the amount to enter on Line 48b of Form CT-1040.

If you are a nonresident and receive a pension, your pension is not subject to Connecticut income tax even if a former employer pays you a pension for services performed while you were employed in Connecticut.

If you are a Connecticut resident and receive a pension, you may be able to have Connecticut income tax withheld from your pension payments. Contact your pension payer and ask for Form CT-W4P, Withholding Certificate for Pension or Annuity Payments.

Estimated Income Tax Filing Requirements

You must make estimated income tax payments if:

  1. Your Connecticut income tax, after taking into account your Connecticut tax withheld, and any Pass‑Through Entity Tax Credit (PE Tax Credit) you are allowed to claim, is $1,000 or more; and

  2. You expect your Connecticut income tax withheld (including any PE Tax Credit) to be less than your required annual payment for the following taxable year.

Your required annual payment for the taxable year is the lesser of:

  • 90% of the income tax shown on your current Connecticut income tax return; or
  • 100% of the income tax shown on your prior Connecticut income tax return, if you filed a Connecticut income tax return that covered a 12‑month period.

You do not have to make estimated income tax payments if:

  • You were a Connecticut resident during the prior taxable year, and you did not file an income tax return because you had no Connecticut income tax liability; or
  • You were a nonresident or part-year resident with Connecticut-sourced income during the prior taxable year and you did not file an income tax return because you had no Connecticut income tax liability.

If you were a nonresident or part-year resident and you did not have Connecticut-sourced income during the prior taxable year, your required annual payment is 90% of the income tax shown on your Connecticut income tax return.

Filing a Connecticut Individual Income Tax Return on Behalf of a Deceased Individual

An executor, administrator, or surviving spouse must file a Connecticut income tax return, for that portion of the year before the taxpayer’s death, for a taxpayer who died during the year if the requirements for Who Must File a Connecticut Resident Return are met. The executor, administrator, or surviving spouse must check the box next to the deceased taxpayer’s SSN on the front page of the return; sign for the deceased taxpayer on the signature line; and indicate the date of death.

Generally, the Connecticut and federal filing status must be the same. A surviving spouse may file a joint Connecticut income tax return if the surviving spouse filed a joint federal income tax return. Write “filing as surviving spouse” in the deceased spouse’s signature line on the return. If both spouses died during the taxable year, their legal representative must file a final return.

How is a Refund for a Deceased Taxpayer Claimed?

Check the box on the first page of your return if you are filing federal Form 1310, Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer. If you check the box on Form CT-1040, you must file a paper return. Provide DRS with a copy of federal Form 1310, along with all applicable documents required, to have the refund issued in a name different from the deceased taxpayer.

Do not check the box if either of the following are true:

  • You are not claiming a refund on Form CT-1040 (this includes returns with zero balance or tax due).
  • You would like the Connecticut refund check to be issued in the name of the estate.

Refund claims for deceased taxpayers should be made as soon as possible during the annual filing period. Under federal law, personal Social Security Numbers are not protected after death and will be disclosed by the Social Security Administration upon request. This is a major cause of fraudulent refund claims filed and paid before the legitimate taxpayer’s claim is filed.

Income received by the estate of the decedent for the portion of the year after the decedent’s death, and for succeeding taxable years until the estate is closed, must be reported each year on Form CT‑1041, Connecticut Income Tax Return for Trusts and Estates.

Filing Your Connecticut Income Tax Return 

Use myconneCT to file taxes, make payments, view filing history, and communicate with the agency simply and more efficiently on virtually any mobile device, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Department of Revenue Services’ online tax filing portal myconneCT is a mobile-friendly, safe and secure way to manage your business accounts.

In order to file your return, you must be able to create a username and log into myconneCT.  To create a username, you will need to authenticate your information with one of the following:

  • The Federal Adjusted Gross income from one of your three most recently filed Connecticut income tax returns, and
  • A valid Connecticut driver’s license or Connecticut non-driver ID. 

DRS eAssistant

Did you know about the DRS online tool that gives real time responses to your myconneCT questions?

The eAssistant is available to all users whether or not logged into myconneCT. It will automatically recognize users logged into myconneCT and will guide the user to areas within myconneCT that will answer their questions.

Calculators

Social Security Benefit Calculator: Compute your Social Security Benefit Adjustment.

Property Tax Credit Calculator: Determine your credit from paying qualifying property tax on your primary residence or motor vehicle.

CT Pension or Annuity Calculator: Determine your Pension or Annuity subtraction modification.

Sales and Use Tax

If you want to learn about the special tax rates that apply to certain sales or who must register and file a sales and use tax return visit the Sales and Use Tax Information page.

The following list is not inclusive of all the items and services that are either exempt or subject to the Sales and Use Taxes.

Items Exempt From the Sales and Use Taxes

  • Meals delivered to persons who are sixty years of age or older, have physical disabilities or are otherwise homebound.
  • Magazines by subscription, including publications that only contain puzzles
  • Prescription medicines, syringes, and needles.
  • Nonprescription drugs and medicines: Vitamin or mineral concentrates; dietary supplements; natural or herbal drugs or medicines; products intended to be taken for coughs, cold, asthma or allergies, or antihistamines; laxatives; antidiarrheal medicines; analgesics; antibiotic, antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal medicines; antiseptics; astringents; anesthetics; steroidal medicines; anthelmintics; emetics and antiemetics; antacids; any medication prepared to be used in the eyes, ears or nose; and cannabis sold for palliative use under the provisions of chapter 420f.
  • Oxygen, blood, or blood plasma for medical use in humans or animals.
  • Artificial devices individually designed, constructed or altered solely for the use of a particular person with a physical disability so as to become a brace, support, supplement, correction or substitute for the bodily structure, including the extremities of the individual, and repair or replacement parts and repair services to such property.
  • Artificial limbs, artificial eyes and other equipment worn as a correction or substitute for any functioning portion of the body and repair or replacement parts and repair services to such property.
  • Hearing aids, canes, crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs and repair services to these items.
  • Vital life support equipment including oxygen supply equipment used for humans or animals, kidney dialysis machines, apnea monitors, and repair or replacement parts and repair services to these items.
  • Custom-made wigs or hairpieces for persons with medically diagnosed total and permanent hair loss from disease or the treatment of disease.
  • Support hose specially designed to aid in the circulation of blood, purchased by persons with medical need for the hose.
  • Diabetic supplies (test strips and tablets, lancets, and glucose monitoring equipment including repair or replacement parts for such equipment whether purchased separately or with the item).
  • Disposable pads used for incontinency (adult diapers and underpads).
  • Inclined stairway chairlifts for persons with physical disabilities; repair, replacement, and enhancement parts; and repair services for the chairlifts.

Services Subject to the Sales and Use Taxes

  • Cable and satellite television services.
  • Car wash services, including coin-operated car washes.
  • Furniture reupholstering and repair services.
  • Health and athletic club services. Yoga instruction provided at a yoga studio is included in taxable health and athletic club services.
  • Janitorial services.
  • Motor vehicle repair services including any type of repair, painting, or replacement related to the body or any of the operating parts of a motor vehicle.
  • Motor vehicle storage services, including storage of motor homes, campers and camp trailers.
  • Motor vehicle towing and road services.
  • Pet grooming and pet boarding services, except if such services are provided as an integral part of professional veterinary services, and pet obedience services.
  • Radio or television repair services.
  • Repair services to electrical or electronic devices including but not limited to air conditioning and refrigeration equipment.
  • Swimming pool cleaning and maintenance services.

Estate and Gift Tax

If you want to learn about the federal gift tax, estate tax, or the gifts made to a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen exception amounts and more visit the Estate and Gift Tax Information page.

Real Estate Conveyance Tax

If you want to learn about who must file a real estate conveyance tax return and myCTREC, the real estate conveyance tax electronic filing portal and more visit myCTREC page.

Trust and Estates

To learn more about who must file the income tax return for Trusts and Estates visit the Trust and Estates Tax Information page.

How to Get Help

The Department of Revenue Services’ business hours are from Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

myconneCT

Use myconneCT to send secure web messages for business account related inquires and individual income tax.

By Phone

860-297-5962

860-297-4911(TTY, TDD, and Text Telephone users only, let the 711 relay operator know the number you wish to call and the relay operator will dial it and then communicate using a TTY.)

By Email

DRS@ct.gov (general questions only, no attachments or images or it will be returned undeliverable)

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By Mail

Department of Revenue Services
450 Columbus Boulevard, Suite 1
Hartford, Connecticut 06103*

* A safe and secure drop box is also available at street level of the DRS Hartford location for quick drop off of tax documents.

 

In-Person Assistance: DRS offers several convenient options:

  • Remote videoconferencing via the Microsoft Teams platform. Taxpayers will receive DRS assistance in the comfort of their own homes from a trained DRS professional.
  • In-person meetings with a DRS professional at the 450 Columbus Boulevard, Hartford, CT location. An in-person meeting is by appointment only and scheduled during normal business hours.

To schedule an appointment, taxpayers should contact the DRS Taxpayer Contact Center at DRS@ct.gov.

Interested In Staying Up To Date With The Latest Connecticut Tax News?

Tax Topics Newsletter: Provides helpful and timely tax information to taxpayers and tax practitioners. Sign up to receive quarterly reminders for the latest Tax Topics Newsletter edition.

DRS Tax Events Calendar: Here you will find the Department of Revenue Services’ plan for upcoming webinars and outreach events.

DRS Tax Filing Due Dates Calendar: Here you will find the upcoming due dates of a variety of tax types.

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Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 17-Dec-2025