Talk:Taxation of Social Security benefits

--Watty 20:50, 28 January 2012 (CST)--Watty 20:50, 28 January 2012 (CST)

Is there an error in the married taxpayers table or I am looking at it wrong?

In the second row the column for the "Taxable SS" number has 3,267 but with (18,653 - 12,000) * 0.5 I get 3326.5. This may have also thrown the first column off too if it isn't right.

I was trying to make a spreadsheet of this with my numbers and found the difference when I put the example from the wiki into it so it could be a problem with my spreadsheet.

Number corrected; thanks. Grabiner 11:10, 29 January 2012 (CST)

Reader feedback: I have been trying to find P...
71.61.232.7 posted this comment on 19 February 2014 (view all feedback).

"I have been trying to find Publication 915 'Worksheet 1' to copy without having to print the whole publication?"

Any thoughts?

Blbarnitz 15:00, 19 February 2014 (CST)

Just print Page 16 of the document (2013 Publication 915 - p915.pdf), which can easily be done with Adobe Reader. --LadyGeek 20:02, 19 February 2014 (CST)

Reader feedback: I'm wondering if the 9,617 T...
205.234.17.32 posted this comment on 11 March 2014 (view all feedback).

I'm wondering if the 9,617 Taxable SS in the Married Taxpayers table should be 12,148 instead.

9,617 = 6,000 + 50% * (31,233 + 40,000 / 2 - 44,000) 12,148 = 6,000 + 85% * (31,233 + 40,000 / 2 - 44,000)

Subsequent columns would also need to change accordingly. Thanks! Very useful information!!

Any thoughts?

LadyGeek 15:52, 11 March 2014 (CDT)

Reader feedback: worksheet to figure your tax...
67.248.226.109 posted this comment on 14 March 2014 (view all feedback).

"worksheet to figure your taxable social security"

I have added a description of where to find the worksheet. Duplication of an IRS form (worksheets) is out of scope for this article. LadyGeek 14:56, 14 March 2014 (CDT)

Reader feedback: need actual formula for taxe...
71.60.220.230 posted this comment on 24 May 2014 (view all feedback).

"need actual formula for taxes on SS. The words not making sense. How about a formula?"

Any thoughts?

LadyGeek 15:46, 24 May 2014 (CDT)

Reader feedback: When did taking SS benefits...
76.184.143.131 posted this comment on 10 January 2015 (view all feedback).

"When did taking SS benefits first go into law?"

Any thoughts?

Peculiar Investor 14:41, 10 January 2015 (CST)

A history of Social Security is here: Social Security History. From the FAQ:

Q1: When did Social Security start?

A: The Social Security Act was signed by FDR on 8/14/35. Taxes were collected for the first time in January 1937 and the first one-time, lump-sum payments were made that same month. Regular ongoing monthly benefits started in January 1940.

However, the question is off-topic for this page. It's more appropriate for Social Security, but that page needs to remain focused on the benefits aspect. I don't think any updates are needed. --LadyGeek 08:40, 11 January 2015 (CST)

Reader feedback: states that limit Soc Sec pa...
71.93.224.7 posted this comment on 20 March 2015 (view all feedback).

"states that limit Soc Sec payments because of State Teachers' pension!"

I found this reference: Social Security Offsets: Frequently Asked Questions, by the National Education Association. There are other references which corroborate this website, but they are opinionated in terms of reforming Social Security's Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP): states that limit soc sec payments because of state teachers' pension - Google Search.

LadyGeek 13:53, 21 March 2015 (CDT)

Thinking further, this comment relates to the payment of Social Security benefits - not taxation of benefits. The suggestion should not be incorporated. --LadyGeek 16:49, 21 March 2015 (CDT)

Reader feedback: For a single taxpayer, why d...
156.77.111.16 posted this comment on 30 October 2015 (view all feedback).

"For a single taxpayer, why do you show the Tax Bracket for Taxable Income of $9,225 as 15% when the 2015 tax rate schedule shows it as 10%? And for taxable income of $37,450 you show the tax bracket as 25% instead of 15%? The same questions are for married taxpayers whose taxable income is $18,450 and $74,900?"

Any thoughts?

LadyGeek 23:19, 31 October 2015 (UTC)

The $9225 and $37,450 are the bottom of the 15% and 25% tax brackets, so the tables are correct. If your non-SS income is at least $19,050, your taxable income is at least $9225, and thus you are in the 15% tax bracket and your marginal tax rate is 22.5%.--Grabiner 03:35, 1 November 2015 (UTC)

Reader feedback: Information about Missouri s...
97.88.69.212 posted this comment on 27 May 2018 (view all feedback).

"Information about Missouri showed the Mississippi laws and NOT Missouri -- info needs to be fixed !"

Missouri taxation of Social Security benefits is correct as shown. See: FAQs - Individual Income Tax, from the Missouri Department of Revenue, "How is my social security or social security disability taxed?". --LadyGeek 12:16, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

Derivation of appendix equations
This derivation is not best located on a Talk page, and has been moved to a live page here.

--Fyre4ce 03:37, 14 June 2021 (EDT)

Suggest reverting married table, moving details to a separate section
The change to the table to add qualified dividends for married taxpayers makes the table more complex and adds an interaction between tax items which is not directly related to Social Security. I would prefer to revert the table to the previous, simpler form, and possibly add a comment in a separate section about the marginal tax rates which can occur with qualified dividends:

If you have some qualified dividends taxed at 0% and some at 15%, then your marginal tax rate on ordinary taxable income is 27%, since every additional dollar is taxed at 12% and causes $1 of qualified dividends to be taxed at 15% rather than 0%. Thus, if you are also in the 85% SS phase-in range, $1 of ordinary income causes $1.85 more of ordinary income to be taxed, for a marginal tax rate of 27%*1.85=49.95%. Grabiner 23:06, 23 December 2022 (EST)

It isn't clear that having an MFJ table and chart that more or less replicates the S table and chart adds value. Agree completely with the words in the second paragraph above. Having a chart that puts those words into a picture will be useful for many. FiveK 1:06, 24 December 2022 (EST)

The reason for the two tables is that they already illustrate different situations: hitting the top of the phase-in in the 12% versus the 22% bracket. If there is a table with the qualified dividends, it should be a separate section, as the primary issue isn't single versus MFJ. Thus I wouldn't mind having three tables. Grabiner 08:30, 24 December 2022 (EST)

That could work. For now, would you mind leaving things as is and we get back to this after the holiday season? Family in town to visit, etc. Thanks! FiveK 13:32, 24 December 2022 (EST)


 * Is there anything misleading in the current version? If so, I recommend reverting the change (undo). We can easily recover old content from the revision history. Nothing will be lost when FiveK picks this up after the holiday season. --LadyGeek 13:38, 24 December 2022 (EST)


 * If by current you mean the one from 7-Dec, the chart is inconsistent with the table (table was updated to 2023 but the chart was not). The current live version (23-Dec) removes that inconsistency, and the new charts are not incorrect.  It appears we may be headed toward keeping the new ones but also returning the old one (with updated values), or something like that.  Please leave the 23-Dec version as is.  Of course, if someone else wants to update https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/File:SS_single_tax.png and return that and the corresponding chart to the live version, while keeping the new table and charts, that would be fine.  Thank you. FiveK 16:50, 24 December 2022 (EST)