How do I know if my pension is an excludable distribution for massachusetts taxes? I was never asked that in previous years.

The following pensions are excludable from tax in Massachusetts:

• Pension income received from a contributory annuity, pension, endowment, or retirement fund of the U.S. government or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its political subdivisions.
• Noncontributory military pension income or survivorship benefits.
• Massachusetts state court judges who were appointed on or after January 2, 1975, are participants in the Massachusetts contributory retirement system, and their pensions are nontaxable. 

If you do have a Massachusetts exempt pension, you can enter it in TurboTax in the federal screens:

1. Verify your 1099-R entry under Federal > Wages & Income > Retirement Plans and Social Security > IRA, 401 (k), Pension Plan Withdrawals (1099-R)
2. If this is a tax-exempt pension in the state of Massachusetts, it should fall under one of the categories of Qualified government retirement distributions listed on the Where is your distribution from? screen.
3. Continue through the remaining 1099-R screens.