If you no longer receive SSI, we may withhold your overpayment from a Federal Income Tax refund and/or from any future Social Security benefits you may receive. If you become eligible for SSI in the future, we will withhold your overpayment from future SSI payments.
10-percent limitation of recoupment rate—overpayment.
We'll automatically add the excess to your federal refund or subtract it from federal taxes you owe, whichever applies. The excess will appear as a tax credit on Line 11 of your Form 1040, Schedule 3.
We base your SSI payments on how much other income you have. When your other income goes up, your SSI payments usually go down. When you earn more than the SSI limit, your payments will stop for those months. Your payments will start again for any month your income drops to less than the SSI limits.
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.
RECOVERY PROVISIONS
A few states provide that, if the overpayment is without fault on the individual's part, the individual is not liable to repay the amount, but it may, at the discretion of the agency, be deducted from future benefits.
Where the overpayment is $2,000 or less and you file a request for reconsideration or waiver, Social Security will waive any collection of the over-payment (unless you were at fault in creating the overpayment). This is known as the SSI $1,000 Rule.
If the benefits office decides that the overpayment was not caused by your misrepresentation or failure to disclose, the overpayment will not be recoverable and you cannot be made to repay it. No civil penalty can be imposed if the overpayment is not recoverable.
They can also “garnish” your wages. Garnish means that money is taken out of your wages to repay SSA. SSA must give you notice 60 days before it can take steps to get your tax refund or garnish your wages. This gives you time to contact SSA to ask for a repayment plan.
As of March 25, 2024, the agency will collect ten percent (or $10, whichever is greater) of the total monthly Social Security benefit to recover an overpayment, rather than collecting 100 percent as was previous procedure.
Remember, you must show both that the overpayment was not your fault and that you do not have enough money to pay back the overpayment. Some of the reasons that may show that the overpayment was not your fault are: You have trouble reading. You did not know what you had to report to SSA.
Note that there is no back pay maximum, either for SSDI or SSI.
If you agree that you have been overpaid, but you feel you should not have to pay it back because you did not cause the overpayment and you cannot afford to repay it, you should file Form SSA-632, Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery.
Is There A Statute of Limitations That Applies To Overpayment Determinations? Yes. SSA's regulations limit the time period within which a previous determination may be reopened or revised. For Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, that time period is 2 years.
We do not ask you to repay these PD or PB payments, even if you are later found not to be disabled or blind. However, if you received an overpayment for other reasons, (for example, excess income, SGA, or resources), we may ask you to repay some of the PD or PB payments.
If you have an overpayment debt, you may be eligible to make a full or partial payment using Pay.gov or your bank's online bill pay option. Pay.gov is a secure online service provided by the Department of the Treasury.
If you unreasonably refuse to repay the overpayment and you still work for the employer/agency, then in law they could take the money from your wages without your permission. If you have left the employer/agency, they could bring a civil claim for recovery of the overpayment as a debt.
In most circumstances an employer has the right to claim back money if they've overpaid someone. They should contact the employee as soon as they're aware of the mistake. If an employee notices an overpayment in their payslip, they should talk to their employer as soon as possible.
Yes, Social Security may forgive overpayments under certain conditions, such as you are not at fault and the repayment would cause you financial hardship. You generally have 60 days from the date of the Notice of Overpayment to file a Request for Reconsideration. A Waiver can be filed any time.
In 2024, the income limit for an individual is $1,971. The limit for a couple is $2,915. The 2024 asset limits for individuals and couples are $2,000 and $3,000, respectively, and those asset limits do not change for 2025.
It does not scrutinize or restrict specific items or transactions. Therefore, beneficiaries can use their SSI funds for various purchases according to their personal needs and preferences.
They over overpaid you a year's worth and you tried to keep it, that would be a crime. If you mistakenly kept money that was not yours, like a say a day's pay, that is not a crime, but you still have to pay it back.
An amended tax return is simply a correction to a previously filed tax return. It allows you to get back any money you overpaid because you missed a tax deduction or credit or made a math error.
Extended Repayment Period: Social Security now allows beneficiaries more time to repay overpayments, reducing the monthly payback amount to better accommodate financial situations. Withholding Adjustments: Social Security may adjust the amount they withhold to as little as $10 per month to recover overpayments.