Yes, the Social Security Administration (SSA) can access IRS data, including tax returns, for verification, but they primarily use this for broader research and to confirm earnings; your actual SSI eligibility depends on monthly income/resources, and tax refunds are generally excluded as income for up to 12 months, though you must spend them within that period or risk losing benefits later.
SSA receives information on employee wages from the employer on Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement and Form W-3 Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, and on self-employment earnings from IRS data files derived from Schedule SE and the unreported wages and tips line item on Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
The SSI program specifically disregards federal and/or state income tax refunds as a form of income. This is because SSI counts your gross income when it's received so your SSI check has already adjusted without regard to any taxes withheld.
In general, the IRS may not disclose your tax information to third parties unless you give us permission. (Example: You request that we disclose information for a mortgage or student loan application.)
Most people who pay into Social Security work for an employer. Their employer deducts Social Security and Medicare taxes from their paycheck, matches that contribution, sends taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and reports wages to us.
Every year your employer tells us how much money you earned so we can update your Social Security record. If you're self-employed, you tell us directly.
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Unreimbursed employee expenses are perceived to be one of the most common IRS red flags. The IRS frequently reviews unreimbursed employee expenses in audits, as they are widely considered a high abuse category for W2 employees.
Individual income tax returns are not public information. They are private and any unauthorized disclosure of the returns or the information contained within is prohibited by law. The IRS cannot release any taxpayer information except to some individuals and agencies with special privileges.
Your privacy rights
The law requires the IRS to protect your information, and you do not need to take any action or make a special request for us to protect your confidentiality. The IRS may not disclose tax returns or return information unless authorized by law.
If the value of your resources that we count is over the allowable limit at the beginning of the month, you cannot receive SSI for that month. If you decide to sell the excess resources for what they are worth, you may receive SSI beginning the month after you sell the excess resources.
Chapter 21 concerns Social Security and Medicare (FICA) tax, and chapter 24 deals with income tax withholding. The IRS may therefore share information with SSA about Social Security and Medicare tax liability if necessary to establish the taxpayer's liability.
You must report your monthly wages and changes in income from other sources to get accurate monthly SSI payments. If you live with your spouse, you must also report their income.
The Social Security Administration is part of the federal government and absolutely has access to all of your IRS records. Any income associated with your Social Security number will be known to it. SSDI is only concerned with whether any income you have received was derived from wages.
IRS databases are so closely-held that access to IDRS is limited even for agency employees, who normally can view them only for their own specifically assigned cases. Under Internal Revenue Code Section 6103, unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer data is a felony.
SSA collects wage data from two main sources: Forms 941, processed by IRS, provide wage data by employer by calendar quarter. IRS sends the processed data to SSA four times per year. W-2s, processed by SSA, provide individuals' wage information by calendar year.
Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code establishes that federal tax returns and return information are confidential unless a statute expressly authorizes disclosure.
The public does not have access to your tax returns. Government agencies can and will get this information if they really want it.
The Notice of Federal Tax Lien is filed in the public record of your local recording office like claims of other creditors. The NFTL may affect your ability to get credit or sell your property. An IRS levy is not a public record.
Not reporting all of your income is an easy-to-avoid red flag that can lead to an audit. Taking excessive business tax deductions and mixing business and personal expenses can lead to an audit. The IRS mostly audits tax returns of those earning more than $200,000 and corporations with more than $10 million in assets.
Initially included in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the lower 1099-K threshold was meant to close tax gaps by flagging more digital income. It required platforms to report any user earning $600 or more, regardless of how many transactions they had.
7 years - For filing a claim for credit or refund due to an overpayment resulting from a bad debt deduction or a loss from worthless securities, the time to make the claim is 7 years from the date the return was due.
Exit from the SSI program can be due to death, medical recovery, excess income (earned or unearned), excess resources, or a change in living arrangements. In many cases, for instance when dealing with excess income, payments are suspended.
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The COLA was 2.5 percent in 2025. Nearly 71 million Social Security beneficiaries will see a 2.8 percent COLA beginning in January 2026. Increased payments to nearly 7.5 million people receiving SSI will begin on December 31, 2025.