Taxes are something that all United States citizens must pay every year. They are something totally unavoidable and if we have to pay them it is mandatory to do so. There is no way around this, because if we earn enough money, even if it is just Social Security, we must pay taxes on an annual basis.
Likewise, in the case of getting other types of income we are also going to have to pay taxes. But in many occasions we will not have to pay taxes as such, although we will have to send the Tax Return to the IRS every year. And if we collect Social Security we must include a specific figure that comes on the SSA-1099 form.
There are occasions in which a retiree may have received a part of the year his or her salary as a worker and another part of the year the Social Security. In these cases, the Tax Return will make us pay some money, since we will have extra income apart from the retirement. That is why it is so important to be very clear that the SSA-1099 of the retirement forms must be included.
WHAT SHOULD I INCLUDE IN THE TAX RETURN TO DECLARE SOCIAL SECURITY?
The first thing to think about is that even if we only collect a monthly Social Security check, we must file a Tax Return. It is not avoidable, since it is mandatory for all citizens. Another different thing is whether we have to pay taxes or not.
In most cases it is not necessary to pay taxes if we only receive a pension, but if we have a very large check, we may be obliged to pay taxes. Regardless of all this, we must include the SSA-1099 on the tax return we send to the IRS.
So the figure we see in that box on the SSA-1099 form is what we will always include as fixed monthly income. The rest of the income must be included in their respective boxes and it all depends on whether we get money from another party or not.
CAN I HAVE OTHER INCOME IF I RECEIVE A PENSION?
There are no problems to get income other than the pensioner’s pension. This other income is supplementary, so in most cases it will be taxable. We may also have to pay part of our Social Security check in these cases.
The benefit is not 100% taxable, but only a portion of it is. In these cases, when we have doubts about whether we have to pay taxes on our return we should consult an advisor directly.
Besides that, if we collect Supplemental Security Income we will not encounter any kind of problems, since it is not taxable. But if the extra income we have every month is from work, then we will have to pay Social Security taxes.