Ask Larry

How Do I Report My Back Pay To Social Security?

I am on disability, non-blind.
So my employer decided to give us all a retroactive raise, and pay all the back pay at once on the check we will get on friday (5/13/22)
My question is how do I report that? This will be a back pay of $953. from 1/1/22 - 4/24/22. Do I report it as Like a "yearly" amount or do I have to go back and adjust every pay stub? There's no option for reporting a bonus or back pay on the SSA website. And also will it affect my SGA as long as I did not go over that amount at in point during the period covered by the back pay?

Hi. For substantial gainful activity (SGA) purposes, it sounds like your back pay would be treated like a bonus and would be counted as having been earned in the period FOR WHICH it's paid. So, if you receive an additional $953 for the work that you did from 1/1/22 - 4/24/22, it would add roughly $251 (i.e $953/3.8 months) to your countable monthly earnings for January, February, and March, and roughly $200 to your countable earnings for April.

The problem is that you'll need to submit proof to Social Security that explains the additional payment. If you didn't receive any written documentation from your employer that shows the period of work the back pay covers, you'll probably need to ask for it. If you don't report the special payment and provide documentation showing the period that the back pay covers, Social Security will count all of it as being earned in May.

I'm not familiar with the process of reporting earnings online on Social Security's website, but for something like this you'll probably need to use the mail. Once you have the written documentation, you can mail a copy to your servicing Social Security office (https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.jsp) along with a copy of your pay slip. Be sure to include your Social Security number in your submission so that Social Security can locate your records, and keep a copy of what you submit for your own records.

Best, Jerry

Posted: 
May 12 2022 - 11:11am
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