I am marrying a man who is permanently disabled and cannot work. Does my income effect his SSDI in regard to income tax?

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I am marrying a man who is permanently disabled and cannot work. Does my income effect his SSDI in regard to income tax?

Simple answer: No.

But taxes aren't simple.

Social security only becomes taxable when added to sufficient other income. If you are otherwise required to file a tax return, you do need to enter it in Turbotax (TT). TT will determine the taxable portion.

Social security (including SSDI) becomes taxable when your income, including 1/2 your social security, reaches:

Married Filing Jointly(MFJ): $32,000

Single or head of household: $25,000

Married Filing Separately (MFS) and lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year: $0

If you file as MFJ (and you should), his SSDI income must be entered onto your joint return and will (most likely) increase your total reportable income. So, it might appear that his SSDI is now being taxed more than it was before being married. But the bigger standard deduction and lower tax rates for MFJ more than make up for that.

You may think that filing MFS might save you money. That's highly unlikely. Before making a decision to file as MFS, you should run test returns and compare. You can use this tool: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/?s=1

You can use the same tool for comparing MFJ to Single filing status. But, once you are married, Single status is no longer allowed. You must use MFS or MFJ.

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I am marrying a man who is permanently disabled and cannot work. Does my income effect his SSDI in regard to income tax?

Simple answer: No.

But taxes aren't simple.

Social security only becomes taxable when added to sufficient other income. If you are otherwise required to file a tax return, you do need to enter it in Turbotax (TT). TT will determine the taxable portion.

Social security (including SSDI) becomes taxable when your income, including 1/2 your social security, reaches:

Married Filing Jointly(MFJ): $32,000

Single or head of household: $25,000

Married Filing Separately (MFS) and lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year: $0

If you file as MFJ (and you should), his SSDI income must be entered onto your joint return and will (most likely) increase your total reportable income. So, it might appear that his SSDI is now being taxed more than it was before being married. But the bigger standard deduction and lower tax rates for MFJ more than make up for that.

You may think that filing MFS might save you money. That's highly unlikely. Before making a decision to file as MFS, you should run test returns and compare. You can use this tool: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/?s=1

You can use the same tool for comparing MFJ to Single filing status. But, once you are married, Single status is no longer allowed. You must use MFS or MFJ.

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