Which fund is yours
Police officers are in the PBA Annuity Fund, sergeants in the SBA Annuity Fund and detectives in the DEA Annuity Fund. Lieutenants and captains share one fund, the Superior Officers Council (SOC) Annuity Trust Fund. The City makes the contributions; you don’t pay in from your pay.
Two notes. PBA officers hired on or after March 15, 2017 get no annuity contribution in their first five years (PBA 2012-2017 agreement, Section 7). And the PBA’s current plan documents aren’t published online, so what we say about the PBA fund below is as of its June 2013 benefits bulletin. Check it with the PBA.
This is a different account from the Annuity Savings Fund on a Tier 2 Police Pension Fund statement, and the Fund’s booklets don’t cover it. The Fund’s own Additional Retirement Information Booklet says to contact your union with questions about “Your annuity or life insurance.”
When you can take it
Not while you’re working. The DEA puts it in capitals: “YOUR ANNUITY CAN NOT BE REMOVED UNTIL YOU RETIRE.” The SOC says you must be retired before asking for a distribution or rollover. The SBA’s plan summary says you can take your account when your employment with the Police Department ends. If you’re leaving before retirement, check your own fund’s rule.
Your choices, fund by fund
| Fund | What it lists at retirement |
|---|---|
| PBA (police officers) | As of June 2013: a lump sum, a rollover to another eligible plan or an IRA, or leaving it in the fund until 59½. No installments listed. Current rules not confirmed. |
| SBA (sergeants) | A single sum, partial withdrawals, or installments of at least $250; or a transfer to an IRA or another eligible plan. Under certain circumstances you can also defer. |
| DEA (detectives) | Withdrawal; non-withdrawal (it stays invested, with no further City contributions); or a rollover to an IRA or deferred comp, on a notarized form. No installments listed. |
| SOC (lieutenants and captains) | A lump sum, substantially equal installments, or a direct rollover. |
The DEA has said its fund moves to a fully self-directed plan in 2026, so check the DEA’s current form before you choose. For every fund, the form in front of you is the final word.
Taxes: federal, then New York
What you take out is taxed as federal income. New York is different. The state Tax Department’s page for retired people says a distribution from a New York local government plan can be subtracted from your New York income “regardless of your age or of the form the payment(s) take,” and its list of those plans names the “NYC Superior Officers’ Council Annuity Trust Fund”, the “NYC Detectives’ Endowment Association Annuity Fund” and the “Sergeants Benevolent Association of the City of New York Annuity Fund”.
The PBA Annuity Fund isn’t on that list. The list says “including, but not limited to,” so that’s a gap rather than a ruling against the PBA fund, but we can’t point you to the Tax Department for it. Take that one to your tax professional.
Rolling to an IRA changes the New York picture, though not as much as some summaries say. In three advisory opinions, one of them about the SOC fund itself, the Tax Department said IRA withdrawals stay exempt to the extent they’re a return of the money you rolled over, while growth earned in the IRA after the rollover is taxable in New York. That growth may still fit New York’s $20,000 pension and annuity exclusion once you’re 59½, an allowance shared with your other qualifying pension and annuity income. And each IRA withdrawal is part exempt and part taxable, in proportion; the exempt money doesn’t come out first.
The SBA’s plan summary says a direct rollover means “you will lose the special state and city tax exemptions.” The Tax Department’s opinions say only the growth after the rollover loses it. The SOC’s wording matches the Tax Department: “you may lose this tax-favored status in whole or in part.” Advisory opinions bind the Department only for the person who asked, so treat them as its stated position and confirm your own case with a tax professional.
The 10% penalty, and why it matters where the money sits
Money taken from a retirement plan before 59½ usually carries a 10% federal penalty on top of income tax. Public safety employees get an exception for government plans: leave the job in or after the year you turn 50 and the 10% doesn’t apply to money taken from the plan (26 U.S.C. 72(t)(10)). Income tax still does.
That exception stays with the plan. The IRS’s own table of exceptions applies it to plan distributions and not to IRAs. Roll the money into an IRA and a withdrawal before 59½ carries the 10% unless another exception applies.
The SOC’s notice to separated members says the same, and adds that “In most situations” someone who left before the year they turned 50 can avoid the penalty on an immediate payout only by taking installments over a period at least equal to their life expectancy.
The trade, in plain terms
Leaving the money in the fund, or taking it straight from the fund, keeps the age-50 penalty exception, and for the funds on the Tax Department’s list it keeps the New York exemption on the whole amount. Rolling it to an IRA gives up the age-50 exception and the New York exemption on future growth, in return for whatever an IRA offers you that your fund doesn’t. Which side weighs more depends on your age, when you’ll need the money and where you’ll live. That’s worth working out before you sign the form.
What to ask your fund
- Which payout choices do you offer today, and are installments one of them?
- If I leave the money in, can I take it out later in pieces, and is anything charged for leaving it?
- Will you withhold federal tax from a cash payout, and how much?
- For a direct rollover, which form do I need, and does it have to be notarized?
Common questions
Can I take my union annuity money while I’m still working?
No. The funds pay out after you retire or leave the NYPD.
Is my union annuity taxed in New York?
The Tax Department lists the SOC, DEA and SBA funds among New York local government plans whose distributions can be subtracted from New York income. The PBA fund isn’t on that list, so ask your tax professional. All of them are taxed federally.
Is there a 10% penalty if I take it before 59½?
Not if you left the NYPD in or after the year you turned 50 and take it from the fund. Once it’s in an IRA, the 10% generally applies before 59½.
Do lieutenants and captains have their own fund?
They share one: the Superior Officers Council Annuity Trust Fund.
Put the Annuity Next to Your Pension
Run the free NYPD calculator with your pension, your VSF and your 457, then add up what your annuity fund holds alongside them.
Open the Free NYPD Calculator →Retiring from the FDNY? Firefighters are in a separate pension fund. Run the FDNY pension calculator or get the free FDNY Pension Book.
Sources: SBA Annuity Fund, Summary Plan Description (updated December 13, 2024), PDF pp.2, 5 and 8; Superior Officers Council Annuity Fund: plan page and distribution guidelines; Notice to Separated Participant; DEA Annuity Fund: annuity benefits for active members; Annuity Fund Application; PBA Benefits Bulletin, June 2013, Annuity FAQ (archived); US Department of Labor Advisory Opinion 2000-06A; NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Information for retired persons; NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Advisory Opinion TSB-A-24(3)I; NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Advisory Opinions TSB-A-09(9)I and TSB-A-24(8)I; 26 U.S.C. 72(t)(10); IRS, Retirement topics: exceptions to tax on early distributions; NYC Office of Labor Relations, PBA 2012-2017 Memorandum of Agreement, Section 7; NYC Police Pension Fund, Additional Retirement Information Booklet (version updated April 5, 2023). Checked October 8, 2026.
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This article is general education about published rules. It isn’t investment, tax or legal advice, and it isn’t a recommendation about your own pension or accounts. Rules and figures change, so confirm your own figures and dates with your union annuity fund, and take tax questions to a qualified tax professional. If you roll money into an IRA that we manage, we are paid on it. If it stays where it is, we are not.