My finished 1040-SR line 5a is 24,233 but why is line 5b showing 0?

[khedley]

Why is my line 5b zero when line 5a is 24,233?

[carolinestarck]

In order for social security benefits to be taxable you must have at least $25,000 of combined income.  If this is your only item of income that means that none of your social security benefits are taxable.   Up to 85% of your social security benefits may be taxable depending on your total income.  

[KathrynG3 · Accepted solution]

It depends. Social security income is always reported on the tax return, but is not always taxable. 

It's a complicated formula, but this link provides additional information: Is my social security taxable?

In general, if you had very little other income, your Social Security Benefits may well not be taxable, and the $0 you see on line 5b is probably correct. 

[Edited 2/23/2020 | 8:52 PM PST]

@khedley 

[khedley]

Thank you for your reply. The link you provided did explain my situation (very little other income) and the MAGI calculation was a new one to me.

[LeonardS]

The most direct answer to your question is that none of your social security benefits reported on Line 5a is taxable.  That is why Line 5b has no amount.   From the information you have provided it appears that all your income is your social security benefits.  And your combined income is less than the $25,000 threshold for social security benefits being taxable

For the 2019 and 2020 tax years, single filers with a combined income of $25,000 to $34,000 must pay income taxes on up to 50% of their Social Security benefits. If your combined income was more than $34,000, you will pay taxes on up to 85% of your Social Security benefits.

[Richardf42]

   Social Security is reported on lines 6a and 6b. My line 5a shows $75452 when the actual figures are $67392 using Creditkarma’s software. Is there some way to see what the software is doing?

[Richardf42]

Social Security is reported on lines 6a and 6b on 1040-sr.

[Richardf42]

Sorry, I guess 2019 1040-sr had different line numbers than 2020-sr.