topic Re: Social Security + income from elsewhere in Retirement tax questions

Social Security + income from elsewhere

Djarvis99 — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 20:51:48 GMT

I get $1900 monthly from SS. How much can I make before my SS gets taxed

Re: Social Security + income from elsewhere

DoninGA — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 20:53:04 GMT

Up to 85% of Social Security Retirement/Disability/Survivors benefits becomes taxable when all your other income plus 1/2 your social security reaches:

Married Filing Jointly - $32,000
Single or Head of Household - $25,000
Married Filing Separately - 0

Re: Social Security + income from elsewhere

VolvoGirl — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 21:14:04 GMT

FYI -

There are 2 different things to know about social security. People get them mixed up all the time.

1. Your actual SS checks
If you are over full retirement age your actual SS checks won't be reduced. Otherwise they will actually reduce your payments if you make too much other income in the prior year.

2. Income Tax
For any age up to 85% of Social Security becomes taxable when ALL your other income plus 1/2 your social security reaches:
Married Filing Jointly: $32,000
Single or head of household: $25,000
Married Filing Separately: 0

Re: Social Security + income from elsewhere

xmasbaby0 — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 22:32:31 GMT

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.

What confuses people about this is that before you reach full retirement age, if you continue working while drawing SS, your benefits can be reduced if you earn over a certain limit. (For 2017 that limit was $16,920 —for 2018 it will be $17,040—for 2019 it will be $17,640— for 2020 it will be $18,240) After full retirement age, no matter how much you continue to earn, your benefits are not reduced by your earnings; your employer will still have to withhold for Social Security and Medicare.

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

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899144-is-my-social-security-income-taxable

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/are-my-social-security-or-railroad-retirement-tier-i-benefits-taxable

You need to file a federal return if half your Social Security plus your other income is $25,000 when filing single or head of household, or $32,000 when filing married filing jointly, $0 if you are filing married filing separately.

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

Re: Social Security + income from elsewhere

Djarvis99 — Thu, 06 May 2021 22:24:59 GMT

Why does married filing separately not get a break like the other two? I've never understood that.

Re: Social Security + income from elsewhere

SweetieJean — Thu, 06 May 2021 22:49:04 GMT

There are rules in place to keep married couples from filing as Married Separately just to take advantage of certain tax breaks.