Is Social security disability income taxable

[tcarlucci1]

My husband receives SSD. Is his income taxable? If so, would it be better for us to file separately?

[cameaf]

No, see link below:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/4767309

[jerry2000]

If what your husband receives is Social Security Disability Income, and that is reported to him on a Form SSA-1099, then, depending on how much other income you have, some of it may be taxable. The other answer assumes that what he is getting is SSI or Supplemental Security Income which is not taxable, but SSDI can be. When 1/2 of the SS benefit plus all of your other joint income is more than $32,000, Married Filing Joint, then up to 85% of the SS benefit will be taxable. Turbotax will calculate that for you. All you have to do is enter the amount from Box 5 of your SSA-1099 and Turbotax does the rest. To your other question about is it better to file separately. The answer is that you will very likely have to pay more in total if you do that. The reasons is a subtle requirement that the IRS has when you are married, live together, and file separately. That subtle requirement is that the person who gets SS benefits has to include those benefits in gross income when deciding whether to file AND 85% of that persons SS benefit immediately becomes taxable regardless of other income. In general for this situation, you will pay less total tax if you file as MFJ and include all income including the SS benefit.