is social security taxable?

Answer 1

US (and foreign, for US persons) social security pensions are taxable, but the rate of taxation of US SS is means tested (there is an arcane provision of the US-Canada: tax treaty that preserves this dichotomy for cross-border cases).

http://www.fool.com/school/taxes/1999/taxes990122.htm

"For a single person, your benefits will not be taxable unless the total of your modified AGI, plus one-half of your Social Security benefits, exceeds $25,000. If you are married and file a joint return, your modified AGI plus one-half of your Social Security benefits would need to exceed $32,000 before taxes kick in. If you are married filing a separate return, and you lived with your spouse, your threshold is actually zero, and your Social Security benefits may be taxable from dollar one.

"You'll note that I use the term "modified" AGI above. For the purposes of the Social Security limitations, modified AGI generally means your AGI for regular tax purposes, plus any tax-exempt interest that you may have received. So, investing in tax-exempt bonds in your later years will not dodge the taxes that you may owe on your Social Security benefits."

Answer 2

How much, if any, of your Social Security benefits are taxable depends on your total income and marital status. 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

If you received income from other sources, your benefits will not be taxed unless your modified adjusted gross income is more than the base amount for your filing status. Your taxable benefits and modified adjusted gross income are figured in a worksheet in the Form 1040A or Form 1040 Instruction Booklet.

Before you go to the instruction book, do the following quick computation to determine whether some of your benefits may be taxable:

• First, add one–half of the total Social Security you received to all your other income, including any tax exempt interest and other exclusions from income.
• Then, compare this total to the base amount for your filing status.

The 2005 base amounts are:

• $32,000 for married couples filing jointly
• $25,000 for single, head of household, qualifying widow/widower with a dependent child or married individuals filing separately who did not live with their spouses at any time during the year
• $0 for married persons filing separately who lived together during the year

For additional information on the taxability of Social Security benefits, see IRS Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits. Publication 915 is available on the IRS Web site at IRS.gov or by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676).

Answer 3

The short answer is that social security benefits may be partially taxable.

If you have no other income, or your other income plus half the social security benefits is less than $25,000 ($32,000 for married filing jointly), you owe no tax on the social security benefits.

When the numbers in the previous paragraph are more than $25,000 ($32,000 for married filing jointly) then up to 85% of your social security benefits are taxed.

There is a worksheet in IRS Pub 915 that you can use to see how much is taxed.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p915.pdf

Answer 4

no