Can I get a refund if my income was used to pay on my wife's debt when all she had was social security and was not taxable?

[xmasbaby0]

It is not clear what debt your spouse owed--do you mean she owed back taxes, child support or student loan debt which would cause your tax refund to be seized?  Or was it something else?  What was the debt that you paid for?

Not so sure what you mean by "all she had was Social Security and was not taxable."  You may have some mistaken ideas about Social Security.  If you were married  in 2018 then her SSA1099 that reported her Social Security benefits received are required to be on your tax return.  Her SS might very well be taxable, since you say you had other income.  Your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately, and either way she has to report the SS income.  She would have received a SSA1099 in January that must go on the return.

You can try filing as injured spouse to protect some of the refund, which is much harder to do if you are in a community property state.

INJURED SPOUSE

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1910698-how-do-i-file-form-8379-injured-spouse-allocation

Community property states:  AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI

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.

To see how much of your Social Security was taxable, look at lines 5a and 5b of your Form 1040

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

If you were legally married at the end of 2018 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately.

Married Filing Jointly is usually better, even if one spouse had little or no income. When you file a joint return, you and your spouse will get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $24,000 (+$1300 for each spouse 65 or older)  You are eligible for more credits including education credits, earned income credit, child and dependent care credit, and a larger income limit to receive the child tax credit.

If you choose to file married filing separately, both spouses have to file the same way—either you both itemize or you both use standard deduction. Your tax rate will be higher than on a joint return. Some of the special rules for filing separately include: you cannot get earned income credit, education credits, adoption credits, or deductions for student loan interest. A higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. Your limit for SALT (state and local taxes and sales tax) will be only $5000 per spouse. In many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit. The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be affected. If you live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional information regarding your spouse’s income. ( Community property states:  AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI) If  you are using online TurboTax to prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay twice.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separ...