Your Social Security Benefits: Are They Taxable?

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If you’re receiving Social Security benefits, either for disability, retirement, or survivor’s benefits, when you file your tax return you will need to figure out if the benefits you’ve received during the prior year are taxable to you.

You’ll receive a Form SSA-1099 from Social Security sometime in the first months of the year, showing what your benefits were in the prior year, as well as any deductions that were made throughout the year – including Medicare premiums (Part B and/or Part D) if applicable, and federal income taxes withheld.

But are the benefits taxable to you?  At most, 85% of your benefit might be taxed – and it’s possible that none of your benefit is taxable, all dependent upon your total income for the year.  See this article for a detailed explanation of How Taxation of Social Security Benefits Works.  The IRS recently published their Tax Tip 2014-23, which details some facts about taxability of Social Security benefits.  The actual text of the Tip is below:

Are Your Social Security Benefits Taxable?

Some people must pay taxes on part of their Social Security benefits.  Others find that their benefits aren’t taxable.  If you get Social Security, the IRS can help you determine if some of your benefits are taxable.

Here are seven tips about how Social Security affects your taxes:

1. If you received these benefits in 2013, you should have received a Form SSA-1099, Social Security Benefit Statement, showing the amount.
2. If Social Security was your only sources of income in 2013, your benefits may not be taxable.  You also may not need to file a federal income tax return.
3. If you get income from other sources, then you may have to pay taxes on some of your benefits.
4. Your income and filing status affect whether you must pay taxes on your Social Security.
5. The best, and free, way to find out if your benefits are taxable is to use IRS Free File to prepare and e-file your tax return.  If you made $58,000 or less, you can use Free File tax software.  the software will figure the taxable benefits for you.  If your income was more than $58,000 and you feel comfortable doing your own taxes, use Free File Fillable Forms.  Free File is available only at www.IRS.gov/freefile.
6. If you file a paper return, visit www.IRS.gov and use the Interactive Tax Assistant tool to see if any of your benefits are taxable.
7. A quick way to find out if any of your benefits may be taxable is to add one-half of your Social Security benefits to all your other income, including any tax-exempt interest.  Next, compare this total to the base amounts below.  If your total is more than the base amount for your filing status, then some of your benefits may be taxable.  The three base amounts are:
   • $25,000 – for single, head of household, qualifying widow(er) with a dependent child or married individuals filing separately who did not live with their spouse at any time during the year.
   • $32,000 – for married couples filing jointly
   • $0 – for married persons filing separately who lived together at any time during the year.

For more on this topic visit www.IRS.gov.