Social Security income is taxable for some people and not for others. It depends on your "combined income": your adjusted gross income, plus any tax-exempt interest, plus half of your Social Security benefits. If that total is $25,000 or less for a single filer, or $32,000 or less for a married couple filing jointly, none of your benefits are federally taxed. Above those lines, up to 50% and then up to 85% of your benefits count as taxable income. No one pays tax on more than 85% of their benefits, and the amount that counts is taxed at your normal rate, not at 50% or 85%.
These dollar amounts are written into federal law (26 U.S.C. section 86) and are not adjusted for inflation. They apply to your tax year 2026 return, which you file in early 2027, and they will be the same for tax year 2027 unless Congress changes the law. Below you will find the thresholds, a worksheet you can fill in by hand, worked examples, and the rules for SSI, lump-sum back pay, withholding, and state taxes.
If your benefits are disability benefits, the same rules apply. Our guide on whether SSDI is taxable covers the disability side in more detail.
Social Security Tax Thresholds by Filing Status
The IRS calls the first threshold the "base amount." These figures come from IRS Publication 915 and the statute behind it.
| Filing status | Up to 0% taxable | Up to 50% taxable | Up to 85% taxable |
|---|
| Single, head of household, qualifying surviving spouse | Combined income $25,000 or less | $25,001 to $34,000 | Over $34,000 |
| Married filing separately, lived apart from spouse all year | $25,000 or less | $25,001 to $34,000 | Over $34,000 |
| Married filing jointly | $32,000 or less | $32,001 to $44,000 | Over $44,000 |
| Married filing separately, lived with spouse at any time in the year | No base amount ($0) | Not used | Up to 85% from the first dollar |
Three things trip people up about this table:
- "Up to 85% taxable" does not mean an 85% tax. It means up to 85% of your benefits get added to your taxable income. You then pay your regular income tax rate on that amount, after your standard deduction.
- The percentages are ceilings, not flat rates. Someone just over $25,000 might have only a few hundred dollars of benefits counted as income.
- The thresholds have not moved since they were set. The 50% tier dates to 1984 and the 85% tier to 1994. Each cost-of-living raise, including the 3.6% COLA announced for 2027, pushes a few more people over lines that stay put.
How to Figure Your Combined Income
Combined income (the IRS also says "modified adjusted gross income plus one-half of your benefits") is:
Combined income = adjusted gross income (not counting Social Security) + tax-exempt interest + half of your Social Security benefits
What goes into the adjusted gross income part:
- Wages and self-employment earnings, if you still work
- Taxable pension and annuity payments
- Traditional IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, including required minimum distributions
- Taxable interest, dividends, and capital gains
- Rental income and most other taxable income
Two items surprise people. Tax-exempt municipal bond interest is not taxed itself, but it does count toward combined income. And Roth IRA withdrawals that qualify as tax-free generally do not count, because they are not part of adjusted gross income.
Your benefit total comes from box 5 of Form SSA-1099, which Social Security mails each January (you can also download it from your my Social Security account). Box 5 is your net benefits for the year. Medicare premiums deducted from your checks are included in your benefits, so the box 5 figure is usually higher than the money that actually reached your bank account.
Social Security Tax Calculator Worksheet
This worksheet follows the same math as Worksheet 1 in IRS Publication 915, simplified for a person without unusual adjustments. Fill in the right-hand column. For a married couple filing jointly, combine both spouses' amounts.
| Step | What to enter | Single / HOH | Married filing jointly |
|---|
| A | Total Social Security benefits (box 5 of SSA-1099) | | |
| B | Half of A | | |
| C | All other income in your AGI (pension, IRA, wages, interest, dividends) plus tax-exempt interest | | |
| D | Combined income: B + C | | |
| E | Base amount | $25,000 | $32,000 |
| F | D minus E. If zero or less, stop: none of your benefits are taxable | | |
| G | Second-tier amount | $9,000 | $12,000 |
| H | F minus G (if less than zero, enter 0) | | |
| I | The smaller of F or G | | |
| J | Half of I | | |
| K | The smaller of B or J | | |
| L | 85% of H | | |
| M | K + L | | |
| N | 85% of A | | |
| O | Taxable benefits: the smaller of M or N | | |
Line O is the amount you report as taxable Social Security on Form 1040. If you are married filing separately and lived with your spouse during the year, use $0 at step E and $0 at step G. If you contributed to a deductible IRA, received a lump-sum payment for an earlier year, or repaid benefits, use the full Publication 915 worksheets or tax software, because those change the math.
Worked Examples
The numbers below are rounded examples, not projections for any one person.
Example 1: Social Security is your only income
A single retiree gets $26,000 a year in benefits and has no other income. Half of $26,000 is $13,000. That is the whole combined income, well under $25,000, so $0 is taxable.
For context, Social Security's 2027 fact sheet puts the average retired worker benefit at $2,170 a month after the 3.6% COLA (up from $2,095), about $26,040 a year. A single filer would need more than $50,000 a year in benefits alone to cross the base amount with no other income. A retiree living only on Social Security almost never owes federal tax on it, and Publication 915 says such a person generally does not need to file a return.
Example 2: Single, with a modest pension
| Line | Amount |
|---|
| A. Benefits | $24,000 |
| B. Half of benefits | $12,000 |
| C. Pension | $20,000 |
| D. Combined income | $32,000 |
| F. Over the $25,000 base | $7,000 |
| H. Over the next $9,000 | $0 |
| J. Half of the smaller of F or G | $3,500 |
| O. Taxable benefits | $3,500 |
Only $3,500 of the $24,000, about 15%, gets added to taxable income.
Example 3: Married couple filing jointly
| Line | Amount |
|---|
| A. Combined benefits | $40,000 |
| B. Half of benefits | $20,000 |
| C. IRA withdrawals and pension | $40,000 |
| D. Combined income | $60,000 |
| F. Over the $32,000 base | $28,000 |
| H. Over the next $12,000 | $16,000 |
| K. First-tier amount (half of $12,000) | $6,000 |
| L. 85% of H | $13,600 |
| M. K + L | $19,600 |
| N. 85% of benefits | $34,000 |
| O. Taxable benefits | $19,600 |
About 49% of this couple's benefits count as income.
Example 4: Single, higher other income
A single filer has $30,000 in benefits and $60,000 of other income. Combined income is $75,000. Line M works out to $39,350, but the cap at line N is 85% of $30,000, or $25,500. $25,500 is taxable, the maximum possible.
What Is Not Taxable
- SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is never taxable. Publication 915 states that SSI payments "aren't taxable," and you do not report them. If you get both SSI and Social Security, only the Social Security part goes on the worksheet.
- Social Security alone below the thresholds. As Example 1 shows, most people whose only income is Social Security owe nothing.
- Payroll tax is a different tax. The 6.2% Social Security tax on wages is capped at a yearly earnings limit. That cap is covered in our article on the 2027 Social Security tax limit. It has nothing to do with whether your benefits are taxed.
Lump-Sum Back Payments and Repayments
If you received a lump sum that covers earlier years, often from a delayed disability approval, all of it appears in box 5 of the year you were paid. That can push you over the thresholds for one year. Publication 915 offers a lump-sum election: you can figure the taxable part of the back pay using each earlier year's income, and use that method if it lowers your taxable benefits. You do not amend the earlier returns. Once made, the election can only be revoked with IRS consent.
If you paid benefits back to Social Security, the repayment reduces your box 5 total. If you repaid more than you received in the year, none of that year's benefits are taxable, and a repayment over $3,000 for an earlier year gets its own calculation in Publication 915.
How to Have Tax Withheld From Social Security
Social Security does not withhold federal income tax unless you ask. If you expect to owe, you have two options:
- Form W-4V, Voluntary Withholding Request. You can choose 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22% of each payment, and no other percentage or amount. Mail or bring the signed form to your local Social Security office.
- Quarterly estimated payments using Form 1040-ES.
Withholding avoids a surprise bill in April and possible underpayment penalties. To change or stop withholding, file a new W-4V.
The Senior Deduction and Social Security
A law passed in July 2025 added a $6,000 deduction for each person age 65 or older, for tax years 2025 through 2028. The IRS says it is available whether or not you itemize, is $12,000 for a married couple when both qualify, begins to phase out above $75,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($150,000 for joint filers), requires the Social Security number of each qualifying person on the return, and requires married couples to file jointly to claim it.
This deduction did not change the thresholds or the worksheet above. Your taxable Social Security is figured the same way it was before. The deduction then lowers the taxable income that your benefits are part of, so some retirees owe less, or nothing, even when part of their benefits is counted. It does not depend on receiving Social Security at all. Our guide to the $6,000 senior deduction explains who qualifies and how the phase-out works.
Does Your State Tax Social Security?
Most states do not. For tax year 2026, eight states can tax some Social Security benefits: Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont. Most of them exempt benefits below an income level, above an age, or through a credit, so many residents of those states still owe no state tax on them. West Virginia finished phasing out its tax on benefits with tax year 2026. State rules change often, so check your state revenue department's current instructions before you file.
Social Security Counts Differently for Health Coverage
The taxable part of your benefits is only for income tax. Marketplace health insurance uses a different rule: the premium tax credit counts all of your Social Security benefits as income, including the part that is not taxed (26 U.S.C. section 36B(d)(2)(B)). If you buy a Marketplace plan, report the full benefit amount when you estimate your income.
Ways to Lower the Tax on Your Benefits
These are general approaches, not tax advice. A tax professional or a free IRS VITA or TCE site can look at your full situation.
- Watch the timing of IRA withdrawals. A large traditional IRA withdrawal in one year can push combined income from the 0% tier into the 85% tier. Spreading withdrawals out can keep more benefits untaxed.
- Know what counts. Qualified Roth withdrawals generally stay out of combined income; tax-exempt bond interest does not.
- Use the lump-sum election if back pay inflated one year.
- Check your filing status. Married couples who live together and file separately get a $0 base amount, which almost always increases the tax on benefits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Social Security income taxable?
It can be. Your benefits are federally taxable only when your combined income (AGI, plus tax-exempt interest, plus half of your benefits) is over $25,000 for a single filer or $32,000 for a married couple filing jointly. Below those amounts, none of your benefits are taxed.
How much of my Social Security is taxable?
Between 0% and 85%. Single filers with combined income from $25,000 to $34,000 may have up to 50% counted; above $34,000, up to 85%. For joint filers, the ranges are $32,000 to $44,000 and over $44,000. Use the worksheet above for your exact figure.
Are the Social Security tax thresholds going up for 2027?
No. The $25,000 and $32,000 base amounts, and the $34,000 and $44,000 second tier, are set in federal law and are not indexed for inflation. They are the same for tax year 2026 and tax year 2027 unless Congress changes them.
Do I have to file a tax return if Social Security is my only income?
Usually not. Publication 915 says that if your only income was Social Security, your benefits generally are not taxable and you probably do not have to file. You may still want to file to claim a refundable credit, if you qualify for one.
Is SSI taxable?
No. Supplemental Security Income is not taxable and is not included in the worksheet. Only Social Security retirement, survivor, and disability benefits can be taxed.
Did the 2025 tax law eliminate taxes on Social Security?
No. The law added a $6,000 deduction for people 65 and older for tax years 2025 through 2028, but the rules for how much of your benefits is taxable did not change. The deduction can reduce or wipe out the tax for some retirees.
Are Social Security disability benefits taxed the same way?
Yes. SSDI uses the same combined-income thresholds. See our full guide on whether SSDI is taxable.
Where do I find my total benefits for the year?
Box 5 of Form SSA-1099, which Social Security mails each January and posts in your my Social Security account. That figure includes any Medicare premiums taken out of your checks.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Figures come from IRS Publication 915 (2025), IRS Form W-4V (Rev. January 2026), IRS fact sheet FS-2025-03, 26 U.S.C. section 86, and Social Security's 2027 COLA fact sheet (read from the Internet Archive copy, because ssa.gov blocked automated access). Verify your own numbers with the IRS or a tax professional.
