[HALLIEBETH87]

Ok so Im new to disability....what exactly do we do for tax time??

[IowaFarmGal]

The first thing you need to understand is that Social Security Disability payments aren't always taxable. If you do not make more than $25,000 a year and file as an individual or your household income is less than $32,000 per year and you file jointly, you will not have to pay taxes on your Social Security Disability benefits. If your income exceeds those limits, a portion of your disability payments may indeed be taxable.

The bad news is that, you may have to pay taxes on your disability benefits if your income exceeds a certain amount. The good news is that you will never have to pay tax on all of your disability benefits. In fact, no matter how much you make, you will never have to pay taxes on more than 85 percent of your Social Security Disability income. The limits are as follows:

If you earn more than $25,000 but less than $34,000 and file as an individual or more than $32,000 but less than $44,000 and file jointly, then fifty percent of your disability income will be taxable.
If you earn more than $34,000 if filing as an individual or more than $44,000 if filing jointly, then you will need to pay taxes on eighty-five percent of your disability income.
The exact dollar amount you are responsible for will depend on how much income you have received during the year and what tax deductions you may be entitled to.

[IowaFarmGal]

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.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Oh I don't understand. I know I don't get near that much money you say is taxable. Not even half.

I know I got domething in the mail but I lost it. (I lose things often!) do I just contact SS and ask them to send me it in case that's what it was?

[HALLIEBETH87]

I also don't really know if I get ssi or ssdi

[IowaFarmGal]

SSI is less money than SSDI. I don't think you could ever make enough to be taxable with SSI. I think the most you can get is seven hundred and something a month. My son gets a statement from them monthly with his SSI. He also had income from a sheltered workshop and that factors into how much he gets. Not sure if you will receive monthly statements without other income. It says right on his statement that it's SSI. If you don't get a statement you need to contact Social Security and see if you are receiving SSDI and if you can get a duplicate 1099. They don't do form 1099 for SSI.

[gayleggg]

Thanks for the info, IowaFarmGal. It was very helpful.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Looks like Im gonna have to call them tomorrow. Thanks!

[HALLIEBETH87]

Well I found out I get SSDI. I got SSI until my disability kicked in and now its SSDI. It all confuses me so much. I had to play phone until I finally had to call dang IRS to find out if I have to file taxes. They said no because I don't get any income or over $25,000-I don't have to file anything. Now the IRS told me this...so I guess its right.

[Rose76]

That is not totally right. If you don't file taxes, you may be missing out on some low income rebates that the federal, or state, government may want to give you.

So: #1) Get another copy of that thing you got in the mail that tells how much money the SSA paid you over the past year. Yes, contact them and ask for another copy. They will be happy to send it to you.

Then: #2) Do your taxes just like you always used to do. First do the federal, and then do the state. If you need someone to do them for you, then go to where it is free. Call the department of aging, and they will tell you who can do your taxes for free and do them competently. AARP provides this service to a lot of communities with excellently trained volunteers.

Because: #3) You probably don't owe any taxes whatsoever, but you may be eligible to get something back. Don't miss out on it! It could be hundreds of dollars!

Get someone competent, like AARP volunteers, to file taxes for you and DO IT EVERY YEAR! What you might be eligible to get in a refund changes from year to year, depending on lots of things like who's in the White House. It also changes, as you get older. People over 65 get something others don't get. Don't miss out.

Also, it's good to have a permanent record of your income. Filing a tax return doesn't have to cost you anything and it's a good practice. If you need proof of income for any social benefit you might apply for, that return is a good record to have. Once the IRS accepts a tax filing as accurate, you are eligible to get a copy from them. That copy (not the one that you might keep in your own handwriting, or that your accountant types up) could be very helpful in smoothing the way for you to get something like institutional Medicaid. You never know when you might need to get into a nursing home. Catastrophic illness can happen to anyone at anytime.

A lot of people who won't get something back from the federal government, may get a few hundred dollars back from their state. (depends where you live.) The easiest way to do your state income tax is to, first, do the federal.

Check out this link: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tool.../INF22370.html Here is a quote regarding refunds:

"Even with zero tax liability, you may still qualify
With refundable credits, if you qualify, you can still use the credit even if you have no tax liability. Some taxpayers may find that nonrefundable credits, deductions or other circumstances leave them with zero taxes due. Even with no taxes owed, taxpayers can still apply any refundable credits they qualify for and receive the amount of the credit or credits as a refund. This means that if you end up with no taxes due and you qualify for a $2,000 refundable tax credit, you will receive the entire $2,000 as a refund.

For this reason, when doing your taxes, you calculate refundable tax credits after figuring in all nonrefundable credits, deductions and tax payments."

Most people, including myself, are not knowledgeable enough to get all the refunds they are eligible for. I highly recommend the AARP doing it for you.