Louisiana Couple Denied Retirement Income Tax Break by Tribunal

A couple failed to convince a Louisiana tribunal that about $61,000 in retirement funds is exempt from taxation in a decision released Monday.

John and Evelyn Dowd are stuck with a Louisiana Department of Revenue assessment of nearly $1,800 because their retirement funds came from a private Individual Retirement Account, rather than the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System. State law only exempts the funds that disbursed straight from LASERS, but the Dowds rolled over their state funds into the IRA, the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals said.

• Granting the LASERS exemption to funds rolled over into private IRAs would be ...