Whether or not your Social Security income is taxable depends on your
total income, including your Social Security plus any other income.
Generally speaking, if your only income is Social Security, you probably
don't make enough money to be required to file a federal tax return.
For those with additional sources of income, the key figure is the
Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI). The MAGI includes half of your
Social Security, plus other sources of income. Once your MAGI exceeds
the base amount for your filing status ($32,000 for Married Filing
Jointly, otherwise $25,000), at least part of your Social Security
income becomes taxable. The taxable portion of your Social Security
income increases once you reach additional MAGI threshholds.
To determine if your Social Security income is taxable, all you need to do is enter that income – See Where do I enter an SSA-1099, SSA-1099-SM, or SSA-1099-R-OP1? TurboTax does the rest!
At the state level, many states exempt Social Security from taxation,
either partially or completely. Again, if your sole income is from
Social Security, it's likely you don't need to file a state return
either.
TurboTax will automatically figure out whether you need to pay
federal and/or state taxes on your Social Security income. Just enter
your SSA-1099 information in TurboTax and we’ll let you know!
