What Is Considered Income For Social Security Benefits

How Much Of Your Social Security Income Is Taxable

Social Security payments have been subject to taxation above certain income limits since 1983. No inflation adjustments have been made to those limits since then, so most people who receive Social Security benefits and have other sources of income pay some taxes on the benefits.

However, regardless of income, no taxpayer has all their Social Security benefits taxed. The top level is 85% of the total benefit. Heres how the Internal Revenue Service calculates how much is taxable:

• The calculation begins with your adjusted gross income from Social Security and all other sources. That may include wages, self-employed earnings, interest, dividends, required minimum distributions from qualified retirement accounts, and other taxable income.
• Tax-exempt interest is then added.
• If that total exceeds the minimum taxable levels, then at least half of your Social Security benefits will be considered taxable income. You must then take the standard or itemize deductions to arrive at your net income. The amount you owe depends on precisely where that number lands in the federal income tax tables.

Combined Income = Adjusted Gross Income + Nontaxable Interest + Half of Your Social Security Benefits

The key to reducing taxes on your Social Security benefit is to reduce the amount of taxable income you have when you retire, but not to reduce your total income.

What’s Full Retirement Age

Full retirement age is when you’re eligible to receive full Social Security benefits. Your full retirement age depends on your birth year: For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67. For those born in 1955 through to the end of 1959 , full retirement age ranges between 66 and 2 months and 66 and 10 months. If you were born before 1955, you’ve already reached age 66 and full retirement age.

Casualties Disasters And Thefts

A casualty occurs when property is damaged as a result of a disaster such as a hurricane, fire, car accident or similar event. Generally, you may deduct a casualty loss only in the tax year in which the loss occurred. However, if you have a casualty loss from a disaster that occurred in an area declared by the President or the Governor as a disaster area, the loss may be claimed for the year in which the disaster occurred, or the year immediately before the loss.

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How Does Social Security Know

You might wonder how the Social Security Administration keeps track of your work and your earnings. The answer: It doesn’t. It’s your responsibility to report how much you’ve made.

“The biggest thing to remember if you are working is to notify the Social Security Administration if you’re going to earn wages in excess of the earnings threshold,” says Matt Ahrens, an associate financial advisor at Integrity Advisory Group.

Otherwise, he notes, “They will not be notified of your earnings until you file your taxes the following year. And if you were receiving excess benefits, you can be fined, forced to pay back the excess, or receive lower future benefits.”

Its Not Justincome That Matters Its Timing Too

Additionally, theSocial Security Administration will often want clarification on the timing of yourearnings. In some cases, you may have earned money while you were stillworking, but didnt receive it until after you stopped working and filed forSocial Security.

Does that income still count? The answer is,it depends. The rules are slightly different for employees and forself-employed workers.

For previousemployees, the Administrations article, How Work Affects Your Benefits, says if you work for wages, income counts when its earned, not when its paid.

Then it goes on tosay if youre self-employed, income counts when you receive it, not when you earn it. But theres a time qualifier onthe end of that sentence it goes on to say that this is true unless paid in a year after you become entitled to Social Security andearned before you became entitled.

Effectively, thismeans that if the payment occurs in the taxable year after you file forbenefits, it will not count against the earnings limit as long as the work wasperformed before you filed forbenefits.

But even within theserules there are some types of payments that fall in the cracks and dont lineup perfectly with these rules. Again, I want to strongly emphasize that if youreceive a notice from the SSA alleging that you earned more than the allowableamount, dive into the rules to make sure they are right.

I promise youthey are not always right.

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Are All Kinds Of Social Security Income Taxable

All social security benefits are taxable in the same way. This is true whether theyre retirement, survivors, or disability benefits. Take note that Social Security benefits paid to a child under his or her Social Security number could be potentially taxable to the child, not the parent. Note: Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is a non-taxable needs-based federal benefit. It is not part of Social Security benefits and does not figure into the taxable benefit formula.

Finding your taxable income is an important part of filing taxes. Learn how to calculate your taxable income with help from the experts at H& R Block.

How Will I Know That I Have To Pay

The Social Security Administration will send a benefit statement each year in January to beneficiaries Form SSA-1099. With this form you will be able to complete your federal income tax return to find out if your benefits are subject to tax.

Additionally the SSA also allows beneficiaries to report their incomes quarterly to avoid a surprise at the end of the year. Another option includes having the agency withhold the taxes that would be owed when distributing your monthly payments. In order for thetaxes on the benefits to be withheld you will need to submit a W-4V Form to the iRS.

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Since Disability Benefits Are Unearned Income Are They Taxed

Your other income besides disability payments determines if your disability benefits are taxed or not. Your benefits are considered together with income from taxable disability plans, investments, and pensions by the IRS. In 2016, a single person may make up to $25,000 a year without being taxed on disability benefits, and a couple may make up to $32,000 a year without any disability benefits being taxed.

What Is Supplemental Security Income

Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and SSI benefits differ based on who receives them and why. SSI recipients do not need to meet the same disability or work credit requirements like those who receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.

Generally, SSI payments go to the elderly, blind, or disabled. Also, SSI benefit recipients often qualify for Medicaid assistance automatically.

Remember, with TurboTax, we’ll ask you simple questions about your life and help you fill out all the right tax forms. With TurboTax you can be confident your taxes are done right, from simple to complex tax returns, no matter what your situation.

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What Income Affects Social Security Benefits

Asked by: London Becker

If you are younger than full retirement age and earn more than the yearly earnings limit, we may reduce your benefit amount. If you are under full retirement age for the entire year, we deduct $1 from your benefit payments for every $2 you earn above the annual limit. For 2022, that limit is $19,560.

Are Social Security Benefits Taxable

Up to 50% or even 85% of your Social security benefits are taxable if your provisional or total income, as defined by tax law, is above a certain base amount. Your Social Security income may not be taxable at all if your total income is below the base amount.

If youre married and filing jointly with your spouse, your combined incomes and social security benefits are used to figure your total income.

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Delaying Your Social Security Benefit Claim

“The other strategy, says Kumar, involves postponing when you first take Social Security. Both approaches can help shave dollars off your tax bill in retirement every yearit just takes a little forward planning.”

Consider a hypothetical couple named Natalie and Juan: For every year they delay taking Social Security past their full retirement age , they get up to an 8% increase in their annual benefit.

A hypothetical couple claiming Social Security at age 65 vs. age 70

In general, many people would benefit from waiting to age 70 to take Social Security. Others may need the income sooner and may lack the resources necessary to meet expenses during the delay period, or they may not live long enough to reap the rewards of delaying their claim.

Natalie and Juans strategy is to reduce the amount they withdraw from their taxable IRAs over time and make up the difference in income by waiting until age 70 to claim Social Security. This has a big payoff for them because by delaying claiming Social Security until age 70, the percentage of their Social Security income that gets taxed is cut from 85% to 48.33%.

It gets better: While Natalie and Juans retirement paycheck of $70,000 remains the same, they pay approximately 37% less in taxes and withdraw smaller amounts from their respective IRAs each year.

Tip: To learn more about timing and Social Security, read Viewpoints on Fidelity.com: Should you take Social Security at 62?

Three Ways To Reduce The Taxes That You Pay On Benefits

Is Social Security taxable? For most Americans, it is. That is, a majority of those who receive Social Security benefits pay income tax on up to half or even 85% of that money because their combined income from Social Security and other sources pushes them above the very low thresholds for taxes to kick in.

But there are three strategies you can useplace some retirement income in Roth IRAs, withdraw taxable income before retiring, or purchase an annuity, to limit the amount of tax you pay on Social Security benefits.

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Ways To Avoid Taxes On Benefits

The simplest way to keep your Social Security benefits free from income tax is to keep your total combined income below the thresholds to pay tax. However, this may not be a realistic goal for everyone, so there are three ways to limit the taxes that you owe.

• Place retirement income in Roth IRAs
• Withdraw taxable income before retiring
• Purchase an annuity

How We Deduct Earnings From Benefits

In 2022, if youre under full retirement age, the annual earnings limit is $19,560. If you will reach full retirement age in 2022, the limit on your earnings for the months before full retirement age is $51,960.

Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, there is no limit on how much you can earn and still receive your benefits.

Let’s look at a few examples. You are receiving Social Security retirement benefits every month in 2022 and you:

• Are under full retirement age all year. You are entitled to $800 a month in benefits.

  You work and earn $29,560 during the year. Your Social Security benefits would be reduced by $5,000 . You would receive $4,600 of your $9,600 in benefits for the year.

• Reach full retirement age in August 2022. You are entitled to $800 per month in benefits.

  You work and earn $63,000 during the year, with $52,638 of it in the 7 months from January through July.

• Your Social Security benefits would be reduced through July by $226 . You would still receive $5,374 out of your $5,600 benefits for the first 7 months.
• Beginning in August 2022, when you reach full retirement age, you would receive your full benefit , no matter how much you earn.

If you are eligible for retirement benefits this year and are still working, you can use our earnings test calculator to see how your earnings could affect your benefit payments.

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Fact #: Social Security Is Particularly Important For People Of Color

Social Security is a particularly important source of income for groups with low earnings and less opportunity to save and earn pensions, including Black and Latino workers and their families, who face higher poverty rates during their working lives and in old age. The poverty rate among Black and Latino older adults is roughly 2.5 times as high as for white seniors. There is a significant racial retirement wealth gap, leading older adults of color to face more retirement insecurity than their white counterparts. Black and Latino workers are less likely to be offered workplace retirement plans, and they are likelier to work in low-wage jobs with little margin for savings. Social Security helps reduce the economic disparities between older white adults and older adults of color.

Is Social Security Taxable

Social Security income is generally taxable at the federal level, though whether or not you have to pay taxes on your Social Security benefits depends on your income level. If you have other sources of retirement income, such as a 401 or a part-time job, then you should expect to pay some income taxes on your Social Security benefits. If you rely exclusively on your Social Security checks, though, you probably wont pay taxes on your benefits. State taxes on Social Security, on the other hand, vary from state to state. Regardless, it can be helpful to work with a financial advisor who can help you understand how different sources of retirement income are taxed.

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Income Taxes And Your Social Security Benefit

Some of you have to pay federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits. This usually happens only if you have other substantial income in addition to your benefits .

You will pay tax on only 85 percent of your Social Security benefits, based on Internal Revenue Service rules. If you:

• file a federal tax return as an “individual” and your combined income* is
• between $25,000 and $34,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50 percent of your benefits.
• more than $34,000, up to 85 percent of your benefits may be taxable.

What To Do If Your Benefits Are Already Being Withheld

If youre subject to the Social Security earnings limit, dont wait for the SSA to start reducing the benefit you receive. Instead, Id recommend voluntarily suspending benefits.

If you wait for the Social Security Administration to discover that youve earned too much working while receiving benefits, your risk of an overpayment notice is higher.

Either way, you arent missing payments that youll never get back. Your benefit amount will be recalculated at your full retirement age to reflect the months that benefits were withheld.

The best way to avoid the earnings limitation is to wait until full retirement age to file for benefits. If you cant wait, make sure you have a clear understanding of how working impacts your Social Security benefits.

If you still have questions, you could leave a comment below, but what may be an even greater help is to join my . Its very active and has some really smart people who love to answer any questions you may have about Social Security. From time to time Ill even drop in to add my thoughts, too.

You should also consider joining the 365,000+ subscribers on my YouTube channel! For visual learners , this is where I break down the complex rules and help you figure out how to use them to your advantage.

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Fact #: Social Security Benefits Are Modest

Social Security benefits are much more modest than many people realize the average Social Security retirement benefit in January 2022 was about $1,614 per month, or about $19,370 per year. For someone who worked all of their adult life at average earnings and retires at age 65 in 2022, Social Security benefits replace about 37 percent of past earnings. Social Securitys replacement rate fell as the programs full retirement age gradually rose from 65 in 2000 to 67 in 2022.

Most retirees enroll in Medicares Supplementary Medical Insurance and have Part B premiums deducted from their Social Security checks. As health care costs continue to outpace general inflation, those premiums will take a bigger bite out of their checks.

Social Security benefits are also modest by international standards. The U.S. ranks just outside the bottom third of developed countries in the percentage of an average workers earnings replaced by the public pension system.

Social Security is important for children and their families as well as for older adults. Over 6.5 million children under age 18 lived in families who received income from Social Security in 2019. That number included nearly 2.8 million children who received their benefits as dependents of retired, disabled, or deceased workers, as well as others who lived with parents or relatives who received Social Security benefits.

Social Security lifted 1.1 million children above the poverty line in 2020, as the chart shows.