Minimize the Tax of Social Security Benefits

Minimize the Tax of Social Security Benefits

 

Whether your Social Security benefits are taxable (and, if so, the amount that is taxed) depends on a number of issues. The following facts will help you understand the taxability of your Social Security benefits. 

 

See Relax Tax’s Amending a Tax Return at relaxtax.com/debtreview

 

  • For this discussion, the term “Social Security benefits” refers to the gross amount of benefits you receive (i.e., the amount before reduction due to payments withheld for Medicare premiums). The tax treatment of Social Security benefits is the same whether the benefits are paid due to disability, retirement or reaching the eligibility age. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are not included in the computation because they are not taxable under any circumstances.
  • The amount of your Social Security benefits that are taxable (if any) depends on your total income and marital status. 
  • If Social Security is your only source of income, it is generally not taxable. 
  • On the other hand, if you have a significant amount of other income, as much as 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxable. 
  • If you are married and lived with your spouse at any time during the year and file a separate return from your spouse using the married filing separately status, 85% of your Social Security benefits are taxable regardless of your income. This is to prevent married taxpayers who live together from filing separately, thereby reducing the income on each return and thus reducing the amount of Social Security income subject to tax.

 

See this related post from Dennis Harabin: Deferred 2020 Social Security Tax are Due Jan. 3 for Employers and Self-employed

If you are an employer or self-employed and chose to defer paying part of your 2020 Social Security tax obligation you should have received a reminder from the IRS reminding you that the first payment is due January 3, 2022. Even if you did not receive a reminder from the IRS, you are still responsible for making the payment on time, even if you did not receive a bill.

 

 

  • The following quick computation can be done to determine if some of your benefits are taxable:

Step 1. First, add one-half of the total Social Security benefits you received to the total of your other income, including any tax-exempt interest and other exclusions from income. 

Step 2. Then, compare this total to the base amount used for your filing status. If the total is more than the base amount, some of your benefits may be taxable. 

The base amounts are: 

  • $32,000 for married couples filing jointly;
  • $25,000 for single persons, heads of household, qualifying widows/widowers with dependent children, and married individuals filing separately who did not live with their spouses at any time during the year; and 
  • $0 for married persons filing separately who lived together during the year. 

Where taxpayers can defer their “other” income, such as Individual Retirement Account (IRA) distributions, from one year to another, they may be able to plan their income so as to eliminate or minimize the tax on their Social Security benefits for at least one of the years. However, the required minimum distribution rules for IRAs and other retirement plans have to be taken into account. 

 

 

The prompt means that the IRS has received your return, but due to Covid-19 delays, the IRS is experiencing a considerable backlog, slowing processing times and disbursements. Typically, the IRS processes tax returns and issues refunds within 21 calendar days of receipt. The IRS even stated in January communicating the 21-day time frame. Add in the pandemic-related tax changes and child tax credit advances, and this tax season is more complicated than ever.

 

 

 

Individuals who have substantial IRAs—and who either aren’t required to make withdrawals or are making their post-age 72 required minimum distributions without withdrawing enough to reach the Social Security taxable threshold—may be missing an opportunity for some tax-free withdrawals. Everyone’s circumstances are different, however, and what works for one person may not work for another.

Gambling Tax Gotcha – Because gambling income is reported in full as income and the losses are an itemized deduction, the gross gambling winnings increase a taxpayer’s adjusted gross income (AGI) for the year. This can cause more of your Social Security benefits to be taxable, even if gambling losses exceed your winnings, simply because winnings are added to the AGI and losses are an itemized deduction.  

 

 

See this related post from Dennis Harabin: The 2022 IRS Interest Rate Hike Will Go Live April 1st

If you are required to pay quarterly estimated income tax, an upcoming change in interest rates being imposed by the IRS may have a direct impact on you. Effective April 1st, 2022, corporations and self-employed filers who submit quarterly estimated taxes will see a hike in the interest rates that the agency charges for both overpayments and underpayments.

  

 

If you have questions about how these issues affect your specific situation, or if you wish to do some tax planning, please give this office a call at 551-249-1040 for assistance.

 

Do you have some questions? Dennis Harabin at Relax Tax can answer them!

 

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