For what tax year?
I think you mean Social Security (NOT "SSI") -- withheld from your paychecks. If you filed a joint return and entered the income under only one of the spouse's names instead of entering each W-2 under the spouse's names, it makes it look like one of you had too much Social Security withheld---that is the amount from box 4 of a W-2. Making that mistake can result in a higher tax refund than you should hav received, and now the IRS wants that money back.
Whenever you are entering income into the software you have to pay attention on the screens and look for each spouse's name so that you enter the income under the right spouse on a joint return.
Look at your W-2 and check to see what was in box 4 of each of your W-2's. Hopefully you saved copies of your own W-2's to look at.
You should always save your own W-2’s for your records—now you need to look at them to check. Look at your W-2 Box 4 What does it say? Is it more than the maximum for the tax year?
2016 Maximum $7347 2017 Maximum $7886 2018 $7960.80
2019 $8239.80
Check the worksheets from your tax return to see if you entered all of the W-2 income for both spouses under only one of the names on a joint return. That is the most common reason for this problem. Unfortunately, it is user error. As you prepare your return, several screens alert you to it.
And if you did in fact make the mistake of entering all of the income for your W-2’s under only one spouse’s name, you may have made that same mistake on the next year’s tax return if you transferred all your data over from the past year to the next. Check to see—before you get another IRS letter.
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
