Where do I enter the negative net benefits amount on the SSA-1099?

[JohnB5677]

No, you do not post it to income.  You have already included a social security benefit amount in your gross income in an earlier year.  If the amount is more than $3,000 you may be able to get a deduction.   If the figure is $3,000 or less, it is a miscellaneous itemized deduction and can no longer be deducted due to the new tax reform. 

See page 15 of:  IRS - Repayments More Than Gross Benefits

[tropicalredrose1]

The amount is over $3000. So where do I go on my return to enter the “repaid to SSA” negative amount? Please help. 

[ColeenD3]

How you handle it depends if your negative net benefits are for the current or prior years.

The IRS merely states this:

Repayments More Than Gross Benefits (same year)

In some situations, your Form SSA-1099 or Form RRB-1099 will show that the total benefits you repaid (box 4) are more than the gross benefits (box 3) you received. If this occurred, your net benefits in box 5 will be a negative figure (a figure in parentheses) and none of your benefits will be taxable.

Repayment of benefits received in an earlier year.

If the total amount shown in box 5 of all of your Forms SSA-1099 and RRB-1099 is a negative figure, you may be able to deduct part of this negative figure that represents benefits you included in gross income in an earlier year, if the figure is more than $3,000. If the figure is $3,000 or less, it is a miscellaneous itemized deduction and can no longer be deducted. Deduction more than $3,000. If this deduction is more than $3,000, you should figure your tax two ways.

1. Figure your tax for 2021 with the itemized deduction included on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 16.

2. Figure your tax for 2021 in the following steps.

     a. Figure the tax without the itemized deduction included on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 16.

     b. For each year after 1983 for which part of the negative figure represents a repayment of benefits, refigure your taxable benefits as if your total benefits for the year were reduced by that part of the negative figure. Then, refigure the tax for that year.

     c. Subtract the total of the refigured tax amounts in (b) from the total of your actual tax amounts.

     d. Subtract the result in (c) from the result in (a). Compare the tax figured in methods 1 and 2. Your tax for 2021 is the smaller of the two amounts. If method 1 results in less tax, take the itemized deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 16. If method 2 results in less tax, claim a credit for the amount from step 2c above on Schedule 3 (Form 1040), line 13z. Enter “I.R.C. 1341” on the entry line. If both methods produce the same tax, deduct the repayment on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 16.