If you have just begun receiving Social Security Disability payments and you received a back payment from the SSA, you need to be very careful when filing taxes and claiming your back payment amount as income on your tax return. Back payments are usually paid as a lump-sum amount by the SSA. This does not mean, however, that you should claim the full amount on the tax return for a single year. If you do claim your back pay as a single year's income, it will put you in a higher tax bracket and you may end up paying more taxes than you are actually liable for. Instead, you should file amended returns for the years that the back payment covered and only claim this year's payment on your current year's income tax return.

Knowing How Much to Claim

Each year the SSA will provide you with a form SSA-1099. This form will tell you how much money you received from the SSA in Social Security Disability benefits. You will use this form to fill out your income tax return.

If this is your first year filing taxes while receiving Social Security Disability payments, you may want to hire a tax professional to help you through the tax process. A tax professional can help you understand how your Social Security Disability benefits affect your tax liabilities and can help you through the back-payment issue.