Do you file taxes if your only income is social security but you pay mortgage increase, property taxes, and property insurance?

[rosaaaguirrer]

My in-laws both get social security as their only income and pay interest, property taxes, and mortgage insurance. Is there a max amount they can both get before it is taxable? I want to make sure they do not have to file taxes anymore. 

(they used to file jointly and stopped filing taxes in 2016)

I appreciate any help you can provide. 

[xmasbaby0]

Already answered in the other thread you posted to:

@rosaaaguirrer If your inlaws' only income is Social Security they do not have to file a tax return--unless they are having tax withheld from the SS, then they can file to receive a refund of the tax withheld.

Although they own a home and pay property tax etc, they should not expect to get a refund for home ownership.   If they have not paid any tax there is nothing from which to get a refund.

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 was $17,040—for 2019 it was $17,640— for 2020 it is $18,240; for 2021 it is $18,960)  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 6a and 6b of your 2020 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

[Bsch4477]

If social security is their only income they don’t have a filing requirement but they might want to file to get any stimulus payment they may be eligible to receive, although social security recipients are supposed to get that automatically. Some people also like to file to help avoiding identity theft by scammers filing with their social security number.