SusanY1
Expert Alumni

Retirement tax questions

If you entered the total amount of your social security received, you've overestimated your taxable income, and your withholding may be a little higher than necessary.

At most, 85% of your social security benefits will be taxable income, so that line should never be more than 85% of your total combined benefit if you're working to keep your withholding as close to break-even as possible. 

To determine the amount of your social security benefit that is taxable, you can complete the worksheet found in Publication 915.  However, it's okay to skip doing complex worksheets and just use an estimated figure in this case.

If your income is similar this year to last year, you could also look at your tax return for last year, line 6b, to see the amount that was taxed and use that number.

If you don't mind a little extra withholding for a larger refund when you file your taxes, then using your full social security income amount won't hurt you.
 

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