{"id":27869,"date":"2023-12-20T17:20:41","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T17:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/12\/20\/are-excess-federal-retirement-contribution-refunds-taxed\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:07:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:07:44","slug":"are-excess-federal-retirement-contribution-refunds-taxed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/your-career\/2023\/12\/20\/are-excess-federal-retirement-contribution-refunds-taxed\/","title":{"rendered":"Are excess federal retirement contribution refunds taxed?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI continue to be confused about the status of the excess retirement contributions I made into my retirement account after having reached the 41 years, 11 months milestone. I am a CSRS employee on the cusp of retiring at the end of this month. When OPM issues me a check for the amount of my excess retirement contributions, is that amount taxable? If yes, how can I avoid paying taxes on it?\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Reg\u2019s Response<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you retire, any excess contributions will be returned to you with the option of purchasing additional annuity benefits, which aren\u2019t subject to the 80 percent earned annuity limit. For more information about how those excess contributions would be treated, go to https:\/\/www.opm.gov\/retirement-services\/publications-forms\/csrsfers-handbook\/c031.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Those contributions aren\u2019t taxable because you already paid them when you were working; however, any interest they earned will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\t