Retirees and SSDI recipients may want to know if they must pay taxes on their Social Security benefits. This is particularly important when you rely on this monthly payment because it can considerably reduce your monthly budget. Of course, the Administration has set some thresholds to determine if you must pay tax or not.
In this way, you can easily find out how much you must pay or if you do not have to pay any tax at all because you do not earn enough money to exceed these limits. This is something many retirees and SSDI recipients want to know because they have a shoestring budget. It can make a difference if you do not have to pay taxes on your Social Security benefits.
Must I pay taxes on my Social Security benefit in 2025?
The Administration claims that you must pay taxes on up to 85% of your Social Security benefit if you file a Federal income tax return as an individual and you exceed the $25,000 combined income threshold.
Social Security recipients who file a joint Federal income tax return and you and your spouse have “combined income” of over $32,000 will have to pay taxes on up to 85% of your retirement or disability benefit.
So far, we have seen examples of individual tax returns and joint returns. However, what happens if you are married but you prefer to file your tax return separately? Social Security recipients who are married and file their tax return separately will probably have to pay taxes on their benefits.
Some retirees and SSDI who are sure they must pay because of their combined income could submit a request to pay taxes on their benefits. By doing so, they will pay a little throughout the year but not a large bill during the tax season.
Social Security & combined income
The Agency claims that “combined income” includes your adjusted gross income, tax-exempt interest income, as well as one-half of your Social Security benefits (retirement or disability) per year.
Those citizens who would like the SSA to withhold funds from their Social Security benefits can create a my Social Security account or sign in to it, if they have one.
Of course, you can change or stop your Voluntary Tax Withholding whenever you want to. Obviously, this request can be easily done online too, so you will not have to make an appointment or visit your local office.
Do not worry about withholding to much because if the SSA withholds more funds from your benefits than you would need to pay in Federal taxes, they will pay the difference.
Most retirees and disability recipients do not have to pay taxes on their benefits because they do not have many earnings and they do not exceed the threshold, so there is no need to worry in most cases.
