HI Larry, my question...i am 68 years old, i am a widower, getting survivorship social security benefits of $ 550 x month,, i also drive for UBER,, independent contractor.DO i have to file taxes when my 2017 adjusted gross income was $ 8100 .?,,i am not collecting my own retirement benefits yet..
Appreciate your help.
Guillermo

Hi Guillermo,

I'm sorry, but Social Security is my only area of expertise so I'm not able to answer tax questions. What I can tell you is that if your total income for the year was less than $25,000 inclusive of half of the amount of your Social Security benefits, you would not owe taxes on your Social Security benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/taxes.html).

More importantly, if you worked for Uber as an independent contractor as opposed to an employee, the only way that you would get Social Security credits for your earnings is by filing a tax return and paying self-employment taxes. You would owe self-employment taxes if your net self-employment earnings for the year were $400 or more, so I believe for that reason alone it sounds like you would need to file a tax return. As I said, though, I'm not a tax expert so you'll probably want to check with the IRS to see what you're obligated to do.

Best, Jerry

If your earn

Best, Jerry