Hi, we received a message stating that we are entitled to a refund for excess Social security. However we did not see the tax due amount go down. Any thoughts?

[ThomasM · Accepted solution]

If you're getting a refund of excess social security paid in, then you'll see that excess amount on line 71 of the 1040, Excess Social Security and Tier 1 RRTA Tax Withheld.

To preview the 1040 form, go up into the upper margin and click on My Account, then select Tools from the dropdown box. Then click on the first item in the list of "Other Helpful Links," View Tax Summary.  Then look above the summary page and click on Preview My 1040 and that will load the 2-page tax return so you can check the line number.

[marielbur]

Awesome!!! Thanks for the quick response. Very helpful!!

[rjs]

I do have another thought, though it's not exactly what you were asking about. Your question raised a red flag in my mind. Since you say "we" I assume you are filing a joint return. Did you have excess Social Security tax withheld because one (or both) of you had more than one job that you got a W-2 for? That's the only way that you can have excess Social Security tax refunded on your tax return. Every year we see some people claiming excess Social Security on their joint tax return when they are not really entitled to it. Then they eventually get a notice from the IRS saying that the claim was not valid and they have to pay back the amount that was refunded, plus interest and penalties. This happens because they entered one or more W-2s for the wrong person on the return. That can make it look like you had excess Social Security tax withheld when you really didn't. To avoid this problem, please go back to the W-2 summary screen in TurboTax. It shows which one of you each W-2 was entered for. Make sure that each one was entered for the correct person, and fix any that were entered for the wrong person.