SSA-1099 is WRONG

[Jo_Andy]

I have been fighting with SS and Medicare for almost a year.  My husband passed away last April.  I notified Medicare immediately.  They still took his next month's premium through auto pay from our joint checking account. After many, many phone calls, escalations and requests for reconsideration they finally (later part of December) auto deposited a check for the overpaid premium less federal income tax into our joint account.  I contacted them again and escalated it and file another reconsideration request.  This was not a SS benefit to me, and my husband did not receive SS because the fire department opted out of SS.  It was not income to either of us.  It was a REIMBURSEMENT for an OVERPAYMENT of a Medicare PREMIUM for my HUSBAND.  But they insist they are right and say they have no other way of reimbursing me.  The first SSA-1099 I received for me was right.  Then I got a second one which attributed the reimbursement of premium for my husband to my SS income and the tax withheld to my tax withheld.  When I input the information into Turbo Tax, I subtracted the erroneous income to me, but I left the tax actually withheld.  I need a way of explaining the problem to the IRS because the amounts I am reporting via the SSA-1099 section don't match the 2nd SSA-1099 I received.  The program won't let me double click on the space to add a supporting statement.  How do I include a statement of explanation?  What do I do?

[xmasbaby0]

I am not sure how to untangle this----but could you clarify a bit?

Do you have other 2023 income besides your Social Security?

If so, when you enter the other income and the SSA1099 into the software, do you have an amount on line 6b of your Form 1040?

What happens to line 6b without the medicare premium?  What happens when you enter it?

Is the amount of the reimbursed Medicare premium around the typical monthly amount for Medicare-----about $170?   Or was it more?   It seems like you said it was for one month.

Is the real problem the effect this Medicare premium is having on your tax due or refund, or is the problem just in how to enter it into the software?

[xmasbaby0]

@Jo_Andy Oh----and to look at your Form 1040

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing

Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the screen. Click on Tools. Click on View Tax Summary. Click on Preview my 1040 on the left side of the screen.

[Jo_Andy]

Yes, there is other income and results in part of my SS being taxable and therefore there is an amount on 6b. But that is not the issue.  The real problem is I received 2 SSA-1099's.  Neither is correct.  The income reported on the 1st one is correct and reflects the SS benefits I received.  The 2nd one includes, as income, the reimbursement for the premium that was overcharged and collected for the month following my husband's death.  That is not income, it is paying back for something they should not have collected.   On top of that they deducted Fed Tax from the reimbursement which shouldn't have happened since it was not income.  If you get charged for something you didn't buy and the store refunds your money, it is not income and taxes shouldn't be deducted.  The store owes you the total amount they over charged you.  Since the tax was deducted, I now have to get it back from the IRS who is the one who has it now.  So, the way I am handling it is to report the correct amount of income, which would be reflected on the 1st SSA-1099 and I am reporting the correct amount of Fed Income Tax deducted, which would be on the 2nd SSA-1099.  I feel I need to explain this to the IRS using "Supporting Details" but the input section for this doesn't allow it.  Most input allows you to double click and open "Supporting Details".  Since I file electronically, I am not able to type up an explanation and attach it to the return. So how can I submit an explanation for the fact that what I am reporting does not agree with any one SSA-1099 due to their compounded error.

[AnnetteB6]

Sometimes it is better to wait for the IRS to question an issue before you try to explain it.  

If you wish to file your return electronically instead of by mail, my suggestion is that you write up a thorough explanation of the situation and how you handled it on your tax return and keep that information with your tax records.  That way, if the IRS questions anything regarding your return, you are ready with your explanation and you can provide it at that time.  Just go ahead and write it now while the situation is fresh in your mind.  

There are certain situations where you are required to enter comments and supporting details as part of your return, but there is not a method to add supporting details in general to an electronically filed return unless the IRS expects to see an explanation. 

@Jo_Andy 

[dmertz]

I would consider reporting the SSA-1099 as received and then entering an item of negative Other Income (something like "Medicare premium refund inappropriately reported on SSA-1099") for the amount that the reporting of this as a Social Security benefit raised the amount on Form 1040 line 6b.  That would allow the reporting on line 6b to agree with what the IRS will expect to be on line 6b and avoid a different amount there being flagged as a reporting error.