Got cut off, Question Why did my taxes when i added my wifes social security?

[BMcCalpin · Accepted solution]

This answer assumes that you meant to say "Why did my taxes increase when i added my wifes social security?"

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Between 0% and 85% of your Social Security benefits are taxable.

The computation on how much is taxable depends on how much other income you have besides Social Security. For many retirees, this happens when they take a distribution from a retirement account.

In your case, if you already had a certain amount of income listed on your return (W-2 or 1099s) before you added your wife's SSA-1099, this could have caused some of her Social Security income to be taxable, increasing your taxes.

To do the computation yourself (it is somewhat involved), please go to the IRS Instructions for the 1040 and look for "Social Security Benefits Worksheet—Lines 5a and 5b" on page 28. This worksheet is valid for most taxpayers (see the instructions for line 20 starting on page 27).

Note: on form 1040, non-taxable SS benefits are shown on line 5a; taxable SS benefits are shown on line 5b.

There is a worksheet entitled "Social Security Benefits Worksheet" in your tax return output that shows how the computation was done.

[Edited 3/31/2020 2:40 pm CDT - updated for 2019]