Is the letter for a tax year prior to 2018?
EXCESS SOCIAL SECURITY
Look at line 71 of your tax return. If there is an amount there, then you claimed to have paid excess Social Security. That could happen when you enter all of the W-2 income under only one name on a joint return. The IRS refunds the “excess” Social Security. Now they have matched your W-2’s to the return and they want that money back.
You need to check the worksheets for the tax return to see if you made the error of listing all of the income under only one spouse. 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.
Did you save your W-2's? (You should always save your own W-2's for you own records). Look at box 4 of each spouse's W-2 to see what is there. Is there more than the maximum for either one of you in your box 4?
2016 Maximum $7347 2017 Maximum $7886 2018 $7960.80
2019 $8239.80
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.
Edited to say check box 4
**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.**
