The Future of Social Security Benefits and Your Taxes

For Social Security benefits, a portion of them may be taxable. This depends on your marital status and your total income. Your AGI (half of your Social Security benefits plus your projected income from all other sources), plus any tax-free interest from municipal bonds or foreign income, is called your ‘provisional income.’

If this sum is greater than $25,000 for singles (or $32,000 for married couples filing jointly), up to half of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. If your provisional income exceeds $34,000 for singles (or $44,000 for married couples filing jointly), up to 85% of your Social Security benefits may be taxable.

Other income sources include distributions from IRAs, 401(k)s, company pensions and annuities, and investment earnings.

For more information about this topic, please see the following articles:

• www.filelater.com/tax-resources/other-personal-income-tax-topics
• www.ssa.gov/planners/taxes
• www.forbes.com/2011/10/19/social-security-benefits-rising-workers-face-tax-hike
• dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/2011/10/social-security-benefit-increase-in-2012
• money.cnn.com/2011/10/19/pf/taxes/social_security_tax

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