Greetings,

You indicate that a spouses benefit would not be reduced by the working spouses continued income. My wife has been retired for 3 years, she filed for her benefit at age 66. We were notified that she would received a reduced payment based on out Jint tax filing which was 100% my income. The reduction was in in the area of 20%.

Can you direct me to a way to understand? Perhaps expoloation of filing married but seperate?

Thank you for your time.

Best Always,
Mike

Hi Mike,

I'm not sure what you're referencing when you say that I "indicate that a spouses benefit would not be reduced by the working spouses continued income". It's true that Social Security would not withhold any of your wife's own Social Security retirement benefits because of your earnings regardless of how much you earn, but that has nothing to do with whether or not any of your wife's Social Security benefits would be subject to income taxes.

My expertise is limited to Social Security benefits, not income tax regulations. I do know, however, that filing a separate tax return from you would not exempt your wife's Social Security benefits from income taxes. A married couple filing jointly can have up to $32,000 of combined income without having to pay income taxes on their Social Security benefits. But, if a person is married but files a separate tax return from their spouse, that income threshold is reduced to zero. For more information on taxation of Social Security benefits, refer to the following Social Security website: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/taxes.html.

Best, Jerry