Monthly Archives: March 2015

Need to Know Tax Information for NYSLRS Retirees

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If you haven’t filed your tax returns, here’s some useful information that may help you:

The W-4P Form

Your retirement benefit from the New York State & Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) isn’t subject to New York State income tax, but it is subject to federal income tax. The W-4P form determines withholdings from your pension payments.

NYSLRS takes care of your estimated tax payment requirement by withholding money from your pension based on your W-4P. If you’re receiving a NYSLRS pension, you need to file a W-4P to determine how much to withhold.

Significance of the W-4P

If you don’t have enough withheld from your retirement income during the year, you could find yourself owing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) extra in interest and penalties when you file your tax return.

Changing Your W-4P

You can submit a new W-4P form whenever you want as your life circumstances change. Don’t know how much you want withheld from your pension? Our Withholding Tax Calculator can help you figure out the amount. If you need to update your withholding status, you can send us an updated W-4P form. Make sure you check out our W-4P tutorial if you have questions about filling out the form.

Other Tax Information Resources

If you have questions about your 1099-R tax form – the form that reports your pension distributions from us – our 1099-R tutorial can help.

If you are a retiree receiving regular monthly pension checks from NYSLRS, you may also want to read our Frequently Asked Questions dealing with taxes and your retirement benefit.

And if you ever have any other retirement-related questions that we can assist you with, please don’t hesitate to contact us via this email form: https://nysosc9.osc.state.ny.us/product/ccsub.nsf/fsWeb?OpenFrameset. One of our representatives will respond back to you within 3 to 5 business days.

What is the New York State Employees Survivor’s Benefit Program?

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Members of the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) become eligible for a death benefit after one year of service. However, if you’re a New York State employee (meaning that you work for the State of New York), your beneficiary can also receive a death benefit from the Survivor’s Benefit Program for State employees.

survivors-benefit-program

Eligibility Requirements for the Survivor’s Benefit Program

You don’t have to enroll in the program; your beneficiary is eligible to receive this benefit if, at the time of your death:

  • You were a full-time employee or officer of New York State
  • Your regularly scheduled work week equaled 20 or more hours (or your annual salary was at least 1,000 hours times the State minimum wage) and
  • Your salary was paid directly from State funds

There are also other eligibility requirements for the Survivor’s Benefit Program.

How Much Your Beneficiary Will Receive

This program supplements NYSLRS’ ordinary death benefit payment if that payment
is less than one-half of your annual salary, or if you don’t qualify for any ordinary death benefit payment.

The maximum amount payable to your beneficiary is $10,000; the minimum amount is $2,000. Both amounts include the ordinary death benefit paid by NYSLRS plus your survivor benefit. If your beneficiary is eligible to receive a NYSLRS ordinary death benefit of more than $10,000, this program will not provide any additional benefit.

Also, if NYSLRS pays an accidental death benefit, a $2,000 survivor’s benefit will also be paid to your beneficiary.

If you have questions about the program, read our publication, The Survivor’s Benefit Program for New York State Employees. If you have questions about any other retirement-related matters, please contact us.