Will my Social Security benefits be taxed?

You’ve finally retired! You planned for years and you’re finally getting those Social Security checks. But do you have to pay taxes on Social Security benefits? Can you also earn money at a “retirement job,” or would you have to pay more taxes? Do you pay taxes on your Social Security if you take distributions from your 401(k) plan?

Let’s talk about Social Security and taxes: When, why, and how much.

What are my Social Security benefits?

Social Security benefits include:

• Monthly retirement benefits. The amount is based on your income during your working years and the age at which you began receiving payments.
• Survivor benefits. You may qualify even if you’re divorced.
• Disability benefits.

Note that Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments are not taxable.

You will receive a form from the Social Security Administration called the SSA-1099 that shows your total Social Security benefits received during each tax year.

Do you want to start planning for your retirement? Look no further. Check out the retirement savings calculator in this article, plug in the appropriate numbers, and see how long your savings might last. Are you on track?

Social Security taxable portion calculator

In order to calculate the portion of your Social Security that is taxable, first take 50% of the amount in box 5 from Form SSA-1099 (your Social Security received). Add it to your income (i.e., money you received from your pension or traditional IRA, any wages you earned at a full or part-time job, interest, dividends, and capital gains). You also need to add in any tax-exempt interest.

Note that distributions from a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) are not taxable and do not affect your taxable Social Security calculation.

What number did you get? Is it higher than $25,000 (single filer) or $32,000 (married filing jointly)? If so, you might be required to pay taxes on some of your Social Security income.

• If you’re married filing jointly, add the total income from you and your spouse, plus half of both of your Social Security benefits when you calculate your income level (see below).
• If you and your spouse file separately but you lived together at any time during the tax year, 85% of your Social Security benefits are taxed, no matter what your income level.

Let’s look at an example. Suppose Joe received $18,000 in Social Security according to his SSA-1099. He also earned $20,000 at a part-time job and $1,000 in investment income. To calculate what’s taxable, Joe should add half of his Social Security ($9,000) to his other income ($21,000), which totals $30,000. According to the table above, half (50%) of Joe’s Social Security income would be taxable.

And remember: The 50% and 85% thresholds are the amount of Social Security income subject to tax. That’s different from your tax rate, which is derived from the IRS tax tables. In our example, suppose Joe’s effective federal tax rate is 10%. His $18,000 in Social Security income would result in a tax payment of 10% on the $9,000 subject to tax, or $900.

Survivor benefits for children

If a child receives survivor benefits, the same calculation applies. The child’s income is added to half of the benefits received and the table above is used to calculate the taxable portion. In most cases, a child is single, and a child’s income would be less than $25,000, which results in no taxable portion of benefits.

The bottom line

If you want to avoid being taxed on up to 85% of your Social Security benefits, watch your other income each year. Perhaps you could work fewer hours at your part-time job or, if you’re self-employed, you might delay sending an invoice from a consulting gig until the next year, when you might not have as much income.

You might also consider delaying your Social Security benefits if you’re still working past your retirement age. That will not only prevent Uncle Sam from taxing that income, but also add to your monthly benefit once you do begin taking Social Security.

And if you haven’t retired yet, consider putting more of your income into a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k), as those withdrawals in retirement do not affect taxes on your Social Security.

Finally, as you consider your dream retirement location, you might want to consider moving to a state that doesn’t tax Social Security benefits, depending on your overall goals.