Filing after retirement

[pakyian55]

I retired in October of 2023 at the age of 60 to care for my disabled husband. I am about to turn 62 next month and have filed for my social security benefits. Currently, we make only $2001 each month, mine is retirement from my job and my husbands is his disability income. Starting next year, when my benefits kick in (January) we will make an additional 1272 each month. Do we still need to file taxes? We each receive 1099 forms an no W2.

Thank you

[xmasbaby0]

If your only income is Social Security you will not be required to file a tax return.    You have not mentioned what sort of disability income your spouse is receiving.  Is he getting Social Security disability---or something else?

"mine is retirement from my job"-----do you mean that you are receiving income from a pension?

[pakyian55]

My income is retirement from my former job. 589 a month. Husband gets social security disability, starting in January I will also have social security.

[quorumof1]

Please see below link:

2024 filing requirements 

To make the situation a bit more complicated is that disability,  job retirement and social security each has individual rules as to what is taxable. However, my general inclination is that at stated levels your income won't likely be taxable.  However, its only a rough estimation.

[DoninGA]

Up to 85% of Social Security Retirement/Disability/Survivors benefits becomes taxable when all your other income plus 1/2 your social security reaches:

• Married Filing Jointly - $32,000
• Single or Head of Household - $25,000
• Married Filing Separately - 0

[xmasbaby0]

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 2023 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 schedule: MN and VT.

The tax laws for 2024 will change——for  tax year 2024 Missouri and Nebraska will no longer tax SS