Q. I am under CSRS –- 13 years on Capitol Hill and with no break in service 33 years in the Executive Branch. When do I reach 80 percent? My high-3 is $152,000. Also, I reside in the District of Columbia; what portion of my CSRS annuity is taxable?
A. I’ll give you the formulas. You can do the math. Your congressional employee service will be computed as follows: 0.25 x your-high-3 x all years of congressional service. Your remaining service will be computed this way: 0.02 x your high-3 x all non-congressional CSRS service. To determine what the federal tax would be on your annuity, download a copy of IRS Publication 721, Tax Guide to U.S. Civil Service Retirement benefits, available at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p721.pdf. To find out what your D.C. tax burden would be, check with your local taxing authority.
