You have not mentioned what tax year this is about. Is it for a past tax year? Did the IRS send you a letter?
We cannot see your tax return(s) or access your account.
If you filed a joint tax return, one common cause for this problem is if you put all of the income for both spouses under only one of your names. The Social Security withheld from both spouse's W-2's shows up as an excess amount withheld for only one of you, and artificially inflates your refund. When the IRS catches it, they bill you to get that refund back. Is that what happened?
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 2020 $8537.40
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.
On your 2020 return if you had excess Social Security it flows from Schedule 3 to line 31 of your Form 1040
**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.**
