Do You Pay Taxes on Social Security Benefits? The Income Thresholds

Yes, some people pay federal income tax on a portion of their Social Security benefits — but never on the whole amount, and many retirees owe nothing at all. Whether you’re taxed depends on your “combined income,” a specific formula the IRS uses, not your total Social Security check. Here’s exactly where the thresholds fall for 2026 and how to figure out where you land.

The short answer: it depends on your combined income

The IRS doesn’t tax Social Security the way it taxes a paycheck. Instead, it uses a formula called combined income:

Combined income = Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) + nontaxable interest + half of your annual Social Security benefits

That number, not your benefit amount alone, determines whether 0%, up to 50%, or up to 85% of your benefits get added to your taxable income. According to SSA.gov, no one pays tax on more than 85% of their Social Security benefits, no matter how high their other income is. The other 15% is always tax-free, by design.

The 2026 income thresholds

These thresholds have not changed in decades — Congress set them in 1983 and 1993 and never indexed them for inflation. That means more retirees cross into taxable territory every year as benefits and other income rise with cost-of-living adjustments. For 2026, the thresholds remain:

Source: IRS Publication 915 and IRS.gov FAQs on Social Security income.

These four dollar figures — $25,000, $34,000, $32,000, and $44,000 — have never been adjusted for inflation since Congress set them in 1983 and 1993. That’s why each year a larger share of retirees ends up owing at least some tax on benefits, even with no real increase in their standard of living.

Notice the “up to” language. Crossing a threshold doesn’t mean 85% of your benefits suddenly become taxable — it means the IRS worksheet calculates a taxable percentage somewhere between 0% and that cap, based on how far over the threshold your combined income sits.

A quick example

Say you’re single, collect $24,000 a year in Social Security, and pull $20,000 from a traditional IRA. Half your benefits ($12,000) plus your IRA withdrawal ($20,000) puts your combined income at $32,000 — squarely in the 50% bracket for a single filer. You won’t owe tax on all $24,000 of benefits, and you won’t owe tax on 50% flat either; the actual taxable portion is calculated using the IRS worksheet in the Form 1040 instructions or Publication 915, and it typically lands below the maximum for that bracket. This is why the exact dollar figure varies person to person, and why the worksheet — not a simple percentage — is the real tool.

The new senior deduction: what “no tax on Social Security” actually meant

You may have seen headlines in 2025 announcing that Social Security benefits are no longer taxed. That’s not what happened, and the difference matters.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, created a new bonus deduction for people 65 and older: up to $6,000 per qualifying person ($12,000 for a married couple where both spouses are 65+). It applies to tax years 2025 through 2028 and then expires unless Congress renews it.

What it actually does:

• It does not change the taxability rules or thresholds above. Your benefits are still evaluated using the same combined-income formula.
• It’s an additional deduction against your overall taxable income — on top of the standard deduction and on top of the existing extra standard deduction for seniors. Notably, you can claim it even if you itemize.
• For many middle-income retirees, the deduction is large enough to wipe out the tax they would have owed on their benefits — which is where the “no tax on Social Security” shorthand came from — but higher-income retirees still owe.

The phase-out is the part most coverage skips. The deduction shrinks by 6% of every dollar of modified adjusted gross income above $75,000 (single) or $150,000 (married filing jointly), and disappears entirely at $175,000 and $250,000 respectively. You also must list a Social Security number on the return to claim it.

Because this deduction is temporary and income-sensitive, don’t assume it makes your benefits permanently tax-free. Check the current rules at IRS.gov each filing season, especially as 2028 approaches.

Why this catches so many retirees off guard

Three things tend to surprise people:

1. The thresholds never move. Unlike tax brackets or the Social Security earnings limit, these numbers haven’t been adjusted since the 1990s. A retiree who owed nothing on their benefits ten years ago may now cross into the 50% or 85% zone simply because their COLA-adjusted benefit and any pension or investment income grew.
2. “Nontaxable” interest still counts. Municipal bond interest is often tax-free at the federal level for regular income purposes, but it’s added back in when calculating combined income for this specific formula.
3. Married filing separately is harsh. If you’re married, file separately, and lived with your spouse at any point during the year, up to 85% of your benefits can be taxable starting from the very first dollar of combined income — there’s no $25,000 or $32,000 buffer at all.

What counts as “income” here

For this calculation, the IRS wants:

• Your AGI (wages, pensions, IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, interest, dividends, capital gains, self-employment income, and so on)
• Tax-exempt interest (like muni bond interest)
• 50% of your total Social Security benefits for the year, as reported on your SSA-1099

It does not include the Social Security benefits themselves at full value, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) — which is never taxable — or Roth IRA qualified withdrawals, which don’t count toward AGI in the first place.

Do state taxes apply too?

Federal rules are just one layer. Most states do not tax Social Security benefits at all. As of recent tax years, a shrinking handful of states still tax some portion of benefits, often with their own income exemptions or age-based breaks — this list has changed frequently in the past few years as states phase out the tax. Because state rules shift year to year, check your specific state department of revenue site or state.gov equivalent for the current year’s treatment rather than relying on a static list. If you split time between two states in retirement, this is worth checking for both.

How to actually pay the tax (if you owe it)

If part of your benefits turn out to be taxable, you have two main ways to cover it so you’re not hit with an underpayment penalty at tax time:

• Voluntary withholding. File Form W-4V with the Social Security Administration and choose to have 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22% withheld directly from your monthly benefit. This is often the simplest option — no quarterly paperwork, and it’s easy to adjust or stop.
• Quarterly estimated tax payments. If you’d rather not touch your monthly check, you can send estimated payments to the IRS four times a year using Form 1040-ES.

Either way, the taxable portion gets reported on your federal return using the amount shown in Box 5 of your SSA-1099, which SSA mails every January.

Who typically owes nothing

If Social Security is your only source of income — no pension, no part-time job, no taxable withdrawals — your combined income usually falls under $25,000 (single) or $32,000 (married), and you owe no federal tax on your benefits at all. According to SSA.gov, this describes a large share of beneficiaries who rely primarily on Social Security. The tax mostly affects retirees with meaningful additional income: a pension, continued part-time work, required minimum distributions from a 401(k) or traditional IRA, or significant investment income.

Steps to check where you stand

1. Add up your expected AGI for the year from all non-Social Security sources.
2. Add any tax-exempt interest income.
3. Add half of your total expected Social Security benefits (check your SSA-1099 or your online my Social Security statement).
4. Compare that combined income number to the thresholds above for your filing status.
5. If you’re near or over a threshold, use the worksheet in the Form 1040 instructions or IRS Publication 915 to calculate the exact taxable amount — don’t just apply the percentage directly to your total benefits.
6. Decide whether to set up withholding via Form W-4V or make estimated payments, so you’re not surprised by a bill in April.

FAQ

Is Social Security ever tax-free?

Yes. If your combined income falls below $25,000 (single) or $32,000 (married filing jointly), none of your Social Security benefits are federally taxable. Many retirees who rely primarily on Social Security, with little other income, fall into this group.

Can 100% of my Social Security benefits be taxed?

No. Federal law caps the taxable portion at 85% of your benefits, no matter how high your other income is, according to the IRS. The remaining 15% is always excluded from taxable income.

Does Social Security withhold taxes automatically like a paycheck?

Not unless you ask it to. Social Security doesn’t withhold federal tax by default. If you want taxes taken out of your monthly benefit, you need to file Form W-4V with the Social Security Administration and choose a withholding rate of 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22%. Otherwise, you may need to make quarterly estimated payments to the IRS.

Sources

• Social Security Administration, “Income Taxes and Your Social Security Benefits” — ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/taxes.html
• IRS Publication 915, “Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits” — irs.gov/publications/p915
• IRS, “Social Security Income FAQs” — irs.gov/faqs/social-security-income
• Social Security Administration, Form W-4V — ssa.gov/forms/w-4v.pdf

Related reading

• Social Security COLA for 2026: How Much Bigger Will Your Check Be?
• Medicare Open Enrollment: Dates, What You Can Change, and Costly Mistakes
• Medicare Advantage vs Original Medicare: A Plain-English Comparison