No - Medicare premiums are NOT deducted before the taxable amount of your Social Security benefits are calculated.
The amount reported in Box 5 is used to calculate the taxable amount of your Social Security benefits (before subtracting Medicare premiums). The Medicare payments will flow to Schedule A (itemized deductions) as health insurance premiums.
Whether your Social Security
benefits are taxable depends on how much other income you have. Here’s a quick way to find out if
you have to pay taxes on your Social Security benefits: Add one-half of the
Social Security income to all other income, including tax-exempt
interest. Then compare that amount to the base amount for your filing status.
If the total is more than the base amount, some of your benefits may be
taxable.
- Base
Amounts. The three base amounts are:
- $25,000
– if taxpayers are single, head of household, qualifying widow or
widower with a dependent child or married filing separately and lived
apart from their spouse for all of 2016
- $32,000
– if they are married filing jointly
- $0
– if they are married filing separately and lived with their spouse at
any time during the year
IRS to help you fully answer the question. Click here: Are my Social Security Benefits Taxable
In your case: 1/2 of SS benefits (16,638) + 290 is less than $32,000 so none of your Social Security benefits are taxable.
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