The Governor, the Connecticut state legislature and the Commissioner of Revenue Services should be called out for waiting until 2024 to correct the egregious “cliff” for pension income tax exemptions that was established in 2022.

I refer to Schedule 1, Modifications to Federal Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), Line 48b of the Form CT-1040. If taxpayers exceed the established income exemption thresholds ($75,000 for single taxpayers and $100,000 for married filing jointly) by a single dollar, they are taxed on the entire amount of their pensions and unfairly burdened with tax liabilities of thousands of dollars. These income tax liabilities should have been phased in gradually, if at all.

The politicians knew very early in 2023 how inequitable the situation was and could have easily corrected it for the 2023 tax season but chose not to. I was one of many who testified during the legislative process in early 2023. The governor and others are taking bows for correcting the situation for 2024, but they allowed it to continue unnecessarily for an extra year in 2023. It is a total rip-off of many retirees that should never have happened in the first place if the politicians had been fair and consulted with tax experts before they instituted the regulation.

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Furthermore, the state continues to use the same amounts of $75,000 and $100,000 each year as the base AGI thresholds for the pension income exemptions. These amounts should be indexed and increased annually to give effect for recognized rates of inflation, similar to what the federal tax law does for the standard deduction. Not to do so is to erode the value of the relief afforded to the retirees. Again, the state should have consulted with financial experts on this issue.

I had brought the aforementioned matters to the attention of the state Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, including the co-chairs and ranking members as well as my own local state representatives, and the Commissioner of Revenue Services in February and March of 2023, but they did not take any corrective action for the entire year, and still haven’t taken action to properly index the base AGI thresholds for inflation.

I realize that I have presented much technical information in this letter, but I believe it is important to counter the accolades that the politicians have been affording to one another for the so-called tax relief they are taking credit for. They continuously drain the taxpayers and make Connecticut unattractive and difficult for individuals or new businesses to prosper. It is also noted, several years ago when the state initially announced that pension income was going to be gradually made 100% tax exempt, there were no qualifications or income limitations mentioned.

The current regulation is just another political scheme to exact tax dollars from retirees who have paid more than their fair share throughout the years.

Philip A. Tortora lives in Bethany.