Social Security: When You Do and Don’t Need to File Taxes for SSI Benefits in 2024
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Vance Cariaga
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T. Woods
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Although Social Security is best known as a retirement benefits program, it also offers other types of benefits to qualifying applicants. These include Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, which provide monthly payments to lower-income adults as well as children with a disability or blindness. SSI payments are also available to people ages 65 and older who meet the financial qualifications even if they’re not disabled.
According to the Social Security Administration, you might be eligible to receive SSI monthly payments even if you already get Social Security Disability Insurance or retirement benefits.
With tax season coming up, you might wonder whether Social Security benefits are taxable. The answer is complicated and depends on factors such as your outside income and how much you draw from 401(k)s and other retirement plans. About 40% of people who get Social Security have to pay federal income taxes on their benefits, and in some cases they have to pay state taxes as well.
But that doesn’t apply to SSI benefits because they are not taxable, according to the IRS. As the AARP noted, SSI benefits are considered a separate safety net benefit that is administered by the Social Security Administration but is paid out of general U.S. Treasury funds.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t file taxes for SSI benefits in 2024. Although filing your taxes on SSI is not required, there are other reasons you might want to consider filing anyway, CNET reported. The biggest reason is that you might qualify for a tax refund. You might also be eligible for other benefits such as the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
For example, you can claim the CTC if you have kids ages 17 and younger. The maximum CTC per qualifying child is $2,000, while the maximum for the additional child tax credit (ACTC) is $1,600 per qualifying child — at least for tax year 2023.
The EITC is a tax break for low- to moderate-income households. It’s a refundable credit, which means it can be used to reduce any tax bill you owe. Whatever is left over will come back to you as part of your refund. You can qualify for the EITC with or without children.
Determining whether you should file taxes as an SSI beneficiary depends on your income and how it might impact potential refunds and tax credits. Before filing your taxes this year, find out how much SSI money you received in 2023. As CNET noted, the answer depends on whether you received only SSI or whether you also received Social Security benefits. If you received both, you should get a letter in the mail or online in January 2024 from the SSA that will include how much money you received in 2023.
If you only received SSI, the SSA won’t send you a letter since these payments aren’t taxable. In this case, call the SSA at 800-772-1213 or visit your local Social Security field office.
If you’re unsure about whether to file a tax return as an SSI beneficiary, consult with a tax expert.
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