topic Back taxes in Retirement tax questions

Back taxes

princess711 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 08:08:30 GMT

Spouse is disabled vet with social security, I did not know filing jointly with my income counts towards his maxed allowed

Re: Back taxes

Bsch4477 — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 20:58:45 GMT

Contact the VA or Social Security.

Re: Back taxes

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 22:41:09 GMT

Please explain what you mean--or think you mean. Are you referring to the fact that with other income (yours) on your joint return some of his Social Security is being taxed? That is how it works. When you file a joint return you have to enter ALL of your income, so some of your spouse's SS may become taxable. But....if you file separate returns, then 85% of of his SS would automatically become taxable---so filing a joint return is still the best way to file.

Or is filing jointly somehow affecting his veteran's benefits? Veteran's benefits are not entered on a tax return.

What are you referring to as his "max allowed?"

Re: Back taxes

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 22:43:04 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 2019 it was $17,640— for 2020 it was $18,240; for 2021 it was $18,960. For 2022 it was $19,560 — for 2023 $21,240) For 2024, $22,320.

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. If you work as an independent contractor then you will pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.

To see how much of your Social Security was taxable, look at lines 6a and 6b of your 2022 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 11 states that tax Social Security—Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont These states offer varying degrees of income exemptions, but two mirror the federal tax