Worksheet to Figure Taxable Social Security Benefits

Many of those who receive Social Security retirement benefits will have to pay income tax on some or all of those payments.

More specifically, if your total taxable income (wages, pensions, interest, dividends, etc.) plus any tax-exempt income, plus half of your Social Security benefits exceed $25,000 for singles, $32,000 for marrieds filing jointly, and $0 for marrieds filing separately, the tax man will want a cut of your benefits.

The taxable portion can range from 50 to 85 percent of your benefits. The worksheet provided can be used to determine the exact amount.

Social Security worksheet for Form 1040

Social Security worksheet for Form 1040A

The file is in Adobe portable document format (PDF), which requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

To get a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader software, go to the Adobe web site.

For more information, see our discussion of the taxation of Social Security benefits.