Windowed Mother 2018 Deduction if only Soc Security Income?

[Dee12]

My mom gets my Dad's SS payments of $1300 per month , as he he died in 2017.  She did not file taxes in 2017 or 2018. If she files 2018, based on a 2018 Widower deduction of $24,000, would she get a refund of the difference between her Soc Security and the 24,000 standard deduction (24400 - 15,600)?

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

She could have filed as Married Filing Jointly in 2017, the year of her spouse's passing.  To have Qualifying Widow filing status she must have a qualifying child or step-child as a dependent.

IRS Publication 501 Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information page 9 - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf#page=9

For tax year 2018, if she does not have a qualifying child or step-child as a dependent, then she can only file as Single and not Qualifying Widow. 

If she is under the age of 65 then her standard deduction is $12,000.  If age 65 or older the Single standard deduction is $13,600 (2018).

If Social Security is the only income she receives, she does not have to file a tax return.  Unless there are federal income taxes being withheld then she would file for a tax refund.  Of if she has health care insurnace provided by one of the state marketplace exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and received a Form 1095-A then she would need to file a tax return.

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

[VolvoGirl · Accepted solution]

The 12,000 Standard Deduction can only reduce your taxable  income to zero so you wouldn't owe any tax and doesn't create a refund.  If you only get Social Security it will not be taxable.  

You only get a refund if you have more tax withholding and refundable credits than the income tax you owe on your income.  

[Carl]

If social security was the absolute only source of income for *any* tax year, then a tax return does not need to be filed at all for that tax year. So long as there are no other sources of income, social security is not taxable or reportable on any tax return, ever.