After you file

 @Chrys1 

 

You wrote:

"You are only taxed on social security on EARNED income."

 

You are mistaken about that,  and it is leading you to some incorrect ideas about how your tax return was calculated.   If you are getting Social Security benefits,  ANY other taxable income you are receiving can affect how much of your Social Security is taxable.   That is why other retirement income like income from pensions, investments, rental property, etc., etc. can and do affect the amount of Social Security that is taxable.  Even gambling income could make your SS taxable.    It is not just "earned"  income  from working that makes your Social Security taxable.   

 

(Edited to add detail)   The unemployment OVER the first $10,200 is taxable income.  So it is part of the other income that can make your SS taxable.   

 

 

TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY

Up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxable on your federal tax return.  There is no age limit for having to pay taxes on Social Security benefits if you have other sources of income along with the SS benefits.  When you have other income such as earnings from continuing to work, investment income, pensions, etc. up to 85% of your SS can be taxable. 

 

 What confuses people about this is that before you reach full retirement age, if you continue working while drawing SS, your benefits can be reduced if you earn over a certain limit. (For 2017 that limit was $16,920 —for 2018 it was $17,040—for 2019 it was $17,640— for 2020 it is $18,240; for 2021 it is $18,960)  After full retirement age, no matter how much you continue to earn, your benefits are not reduced by your earnings; your employer will still have to withhold for Social Security and Medicare.

 

To see how much of your Social Security was taxable, look at lines 6a and 6b of your 2020 Form 1040

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899144-is-my-social-security-income-taxable

 

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/are-my-social-security-or-railroad-retirement-tier-i-benefits-taxable

 

You need to file a federal return if half your Social Security plus your other income is $25,000 when filing single or head of household, or $32,000 when filing married filing jointly, $0 if you are filing married filing separately.

 

 

 

Some additional information:  There are 13 states that tax Social Security—Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia.  These states offer varying degrees of income exemptions, but four mirror the federal tax schedule: MN, ND,VT, and WV

 

 

We cannot see your tax return or your account, so we do not know if you had any errors on your return.   You may have entered your data correctly but may simply have a misunderstanding about how the calculations work since you did not understand how your SS could be taxed.    It was correct to include the unemployment over that first $10,200 as income that made your SS taxable.

 

 

**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.**