At What Age Can You Stop Filing Taxes? Taxes aren't determined by age, so you will never age out of paying taxes. People who are 65 or older at the end of 2024 have to file a return for tax year 2024 (which is due in 2025) if their gross income is $16,550 or 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.
Social Security can potentially be subject to tax regardless of your age. While you may have heard at some point that Social Security is no longer taxable after 70 or some other age, this isn't the case. In reality, Social Security is taxed at any age if your income exceeds a certain level.
You would not be required to file a tax return. But you might want to file a return, because even though you are not required to pay taxes on your Social Security, you may be able to get a refund of any money withheld from your paycheck for taxes.
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.
Do I have to file taxes if my only income is Social Security? If Social Security benefits were your only income in a given year and you receive less than $25,000 in benefits, your Social Security income is generally not taxable, and you probably do not need to file a federal income tax return.
If you earn less than the Standard Deduction for your filing status, you likely don't need to file a tax return. Even if you don't meet the filing threshold, you may still have to file taxes if you have other types of income.
At What Age Can You Stop Filing Taxes? Taxes aren't determined by age, so you will never age out of paying taxes.
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.
Qualifying seniors receive deductions off their tax bills because they are senior citizens. The senior citizen exemption reduces the tax bill by a sum certain each year. The actual deduction is $5,000 times the local tax rate.
In-person IRS help for seniors and low-income taxpayers
Eligible taxpayers can also have their taxes prepared in person for free, through these two programs: Tax Counseling for the Elderly – The TCE program prioritizes taxpayers aged 60 and older.
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.
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.
According to data from the Social Security Administration, as of January 2024, the average monthly retirement benefit payment was $1,909.01, which comes to about $22,322 per year.
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.
To qualify to get $144 added back to your Social Security check, you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan that offers a Part B premium reduction or giveback benefit.
Each survivor benefit can be up to 100% of your benefit. The amount may be reduced if the women start benefits before their own full retirement age, but they don't have to share — the amount isn't reduced because you've had more than one spouse.
If you receive SSI, then your benefits are not taxable. Importantly, you are not obligated to file taxes if you have no taxable income, or you make less than $12,950 per year. NOTE: If you are working and receive SSI it is beneficial to file taxes to ensure you receive all your work credits for SSDI eligibility.
Higher standard deduction. If you don't itemize deductions, you are entitled to a higher standard deduction if you are age 65 or older at the end of the year. You are considered age 65 at the end of the year if your 65th birthday is on or before January 1 of the following year. Credit for the elderly or the disabled.
At what age is Social Security no longer taxed? Social Security income can be subject to federal income tax no matter how old you are. The IRS determines if your Social Security benefits are taxable based on income, not age.