Will my Social Security benefits be taxed?

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Earning income in retirement? You might owe taxes on your Social Security.

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You’ve retired and your Social Security checks have started arriving. But depending on your other income, you may still owe federal income tax on some of your benefits. If you earn wages in retirement or take withdrawals from a traditional IRA, 401(k), or other tax-deferred retirement plans, it could affect how much of your Social Security benefits are taxable.

Social Security pays several types of benefits, although not all are taxed the same way. Benefits include:

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments aren’t taxable.

The Social Security Administration issues Form SSA-1099 each year to Social Security beneficiaries. The form reports the total benefits received during the tax year. To calculate the portion of your Social Security that is taxable, first take 50% of the amount shown in Box 5 of Form SSA-1099, which reports your total Social Security benefits received during the tax year. Add it to your other income, including pension payments, withdrawals from a traditional IRA, wages from a full- or part-time job, interest, dividends, capital gains, and any tax-exempt interest.

Distributions from a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) aren’t taxable and don’t count toward the calculation of your taxable Social Security benefits.

If your calculated income is more than $25,000 (single filer) or $32,000 (married filing jointly), you may owe tax on a portion of your Social Security benefits.

For the 2026 tax year, let’s say Joe received $18,000 in Social Security payments, according to his SSA-1099. He also earned $20,000 from his part-time job and earned $1,000 in investment income. To calculate the taxable portion, Joe should add half of his Social Security ($9,000) to his other income ($21,000), which totals $30,000. Under the IRS formula, $2,500 of Joe’s Social Security benefits would be taxable.

The 50% and 85% thresholds represent the maximum portion of your Social Security benefits that may be subject to tax. That’s different from your tax rate, which is derived from the IRS tax tables. In Joe’s case, only $2,500 of his benefits would be taxable under the IRS formula. If his effective federal tax rate for 2026 is 10%, he would owe $250 in federal income tax on that taxable amount.

If a child receives survivor benefits, the same calculation applies. The child’s income is added to half of the benefits received and the same income thresholds are used to calculate the taxable portion. In most cases, a child is single, and a child’s income would be less than $25,000, which results in no taxable portion of benefits.

If you want to avoid being taxed on up to 85% of your Social Security benefits, watch your other income each year. If you expect your income to fluctuate from year to year, the timing of wages, self-employment income, or retirement account withdrawals may reduce the portion of your Social Security benefits that is taxable. For tax years 2025 through 2028, the temporary senior tax deduction may reduce or eliminate the tax some retirees owe on their Social Security benefits.

You might also consider delaying your Social Security benefits if you’re still working past your retirement age. Delaying benefits postpones taxes on those benefits while increasing your monthly benefit once you begin claiming.

And if you haven’t retired yet, consider putting more of your income into a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k), as those withdrawals in retirement do not affect taxes on your Social Security.

Finally, if you’re considering relocating in retirement, check whether your new state taxes Social Security benefits. Most don’t, but some do.