As a very general rule of thumb, if your only income is from Social Security benefits, they won't be taxable, and you don't need to file a return.
In 2024, you don't need to file a tax return if all of the following are true for you: under age 65. Single filing status. don't have any special circumstances that require you to file (like self-employment income)
You will pay federal income taxes on your benefits if your combined income (50% of your benefit amount plus any other earned income) exceeds $25,000/year filing individually or $32,000/year filing jointly.
If Social Security is your sole source of income, then you don't need to file a tax return. However, if you have other income, you may be required to file a tax return depending on the amount of other income.
Generally speaking, you have to be 65 or older and make less than $17,500 in adjusted gross income if you're tax filing status is single or head of household – that limit rises to $20,000 if you're married filing jointly and only one spouse is 65 or older and $25,000 if you're married filing jointly and both spouses 65 ...
At what age is Social Security no longer taxable? Social Security income can be taxable no matter how old you are. It all depends on whether your total combined income exceeds a certain level set for your filing status. You may have heard that Social Security income is not taxed after age 70; this is false.
Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.
You generally don't have to pay taxes if your income is less than the standard deduction or the total of your itemized deductions, if you have a certain number of dependents, if you work abroad and are below the required thresholds, or if you're a qualifying non-profit organization.
You report the taxable portion of your Social Security benefits on line 6b of Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR. Your benefits may be taxable if the total of (1) one-half of your benefits, plus (2) all of your other income, including tax-exempt interest, is greater than the base amount for your filing status.
About filing your tax return
If you have income below the standard deduction threshold for 2024, which is $14,600 for single filers and $29,200 for those married filing jointly, you may not be required to file a return. However, you may want to file anyway.
Generally, if you earn less than the Standard Deduction for your applicable filing status, you don't need to file unless you have special tax circumstances. Not filing a return when you should can result in penalties and fines from the IRS. It is better to file a late tax return than to not file one at all.
California law is generally the same as federal law. The following are exceptions: Social security benefits are not taxable by the State of California.
If your spouse dies, do you get both Social Security benefits? You cannot claim your deceased spouse's benefits in addition to your own retirement benefits. Social Security only will pay one—survivor or retirement. If you qualify for both survivor and retirement benefits, you will receive whichever amount is higher.
Generally, if Social Security benefits were your only income, your benefits are not taxable and you probably do not need to file a federal income tax return.
At a glance
The minimum income amount depends on your filing status and age. In 2023, for example, the minimum for Single filing status if under age 65 is $13,850. If your income is below that threshold, you generally do not need to file a federal tax return.
Taxpayers who don't owe tax or are owed a refund
Taxpayers sometimes fail to file a tax return and claim a refund for these credits and others for which they may be eligible. There's no penalty for filing after the April 15 deadline if a refund is due.
Exactly how much in earnings do you need to get a $3,000 benefit? Well, you just need to have averaged about 70% of the taxable maximum. In our example case, that means that your earnings in 1983 were about $22,000 and increased every year to where they ended at about $100,000 at age 62.
How do you get $144 added back to your Social Security check every month? If you enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan with a Part B giveback benefit, the plan reduces the amount deducted from your Social Security check for Medicare Part B, which could add up to $144 back to your check each month.
The Social Security 5-year rule refers specifically to disability benefits. It requires that you must have worked five out of the last ten years immediately before your disability onset to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
If your only income is social security disability benefits, it's unlikely that you will owe the IRS anything at the end of the year or need to file a return. Clearly, if you don't file, you also won't earn a refund check. But, this is only if your sole income is the benefits.
The IRS typically requires you to file a tax return when your gross income exceeds the Standard Deduction for your filing status. These filing rules still apply to senior citizens who are living on Social Security benefits.
Financial experts generally recommend saving anywhere from $1 million to $2 million for retirement. If you consider an average retirement savings of $426,000 for those in the 65 to 74-year-old range, the numbers obviously don't match up.