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I retired last year and started receiving social security payments. Do I have to pay taxes on my social security benefits?

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Whether you have to pay taxes on your social security benefits depends on your total income and filing status. Here is a detailed explanation of the rules:

Determining Taxability:
- To determine if your social security benefits are taxable, you need to compare the base amount for your filing status with the total of:
  - One-half of your social security benefits, plus
  - All your other income, including tax-exempt interest.
Base Amounts:
- The base amounts are:
  - $25,000 if you are single, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse.
  - $25,000 if you are married filing separately and lived apart from your spouse for all of the year.
  - $32,000 if you are married filing jointly.
  - $0 if you are married filing separately and lived with your spouse at any time during the year.
Taxable Portion:
- If the total of one-half of your benefits and all your other income exceeds the base amount for your filing status, part of your benefits may be taxable.
- Generally, up to 50% of your benefits will be taxable. However, up to 85% of your benefits can be taxable if:
  - The total of one-half of your benefits and all your other income is more than $34,000 ($44,000 if you are married filing jointly).
  - You are married filing separately and lived with your spouse at any time during the year.
Reporting:
- If part of your benefits are taxable, you must use Form 1040 or 1040-SR to report them.
- Report your net benefits (the total amount from box 5 of all your Forms SSA-1099) on line 6a and the taxable part on line 6b.
Special Situations:
- If you received a lump-sum benefit payment for an earlier year, you may be able to reduce the taxable amount with the lump-sum election.

In summary, you may have to pay taxes on your social security benefits if your total income, including half of your social security benefits, exceeds the base amount for your filing status. You will need to calculate this using the guidelines provided to determine the taxable portion of your benefits.

Sources:
Publication 4190 (07/2020)
Publication 915 (2023)
Publication 554 (2023)
Publication 1380
Publication 907 (2023)
Publication 554 (2022)

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