[Updated on July 20, 2025 to include tax calculation with the $6,000 senior deduction from the 2025 Trump tax law.]
Social Security benefits are 100% tax-free when your total income is low. As your total income goes up, you’ll pay federal income tax on a portion of the benefits while the rest of your Social Security income remains tax-free. This taxable portion goes up as your total income rises, but it will never exceed 85%. Even if your annual total income is $1 million, at least 15% of your Social Security benefits will stay tax-free.
Taxation of Social Security Benefits
The IRS has a somewhat complex formula to determine how much of your Social Security is taxable and how much of it is tax-free. The formula first calculates a combined income that consists of half of your benefit plus your other income, such as withdrawals from your retirement accounts, interest, dividends, and capital gains. It also adds any tax-exempt interest from muni bonds.
This income is then reduced by above-the-line deductions such as deductible contributions to Traditional IRAs, SEP-IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, HSAs, deductible self-employment tax, and self-employment health insurance. Finally, this provisional income goes through some thresholds based on your tax filing status (Married Filing Jointly or Single/Head of Household). All of these steps are in Worksheet 1 in IRS Publication 915.
Calculator
You can go through the 19 steps in the worksheet to calculate the amount of Social Security benefits that will be taxable, but the worksheet isn’t the easiest to use. I made an online calculator that helps you calculate it much more quickly. It only needs five numbers plus your age and tax filing status. You’ll have your answer with the click of a button.
The calculator works for all types of Social Security benefits. It doesn’t matter whether you’re receiving Social Security retirement benefits, disability benefits, spousal benefits, or survivor benefits as a widow or widower. It doesn’t matter whether you’re receiving your full Social Security benefits, or you’re getting reduced benefits because you claimed early, or you’re getting the maximum benefit because you waited until age 70.
The calculator works for both a single person and a married couple filing a joint return. If you’re married and both of you are receiving Social Security, include both your benefit and your spouse’s benefit, and both your income and your spouse’s income.
If you’re on Medicare, the Social Security Administration automatically deducts the Medicare premium from your Social Security benefits. You need to use the “gross” Social Security benefits before deducting the Medicare premium, and it should be an annual number, not monthly. You can find this number on your Social Security benefit statement or your Form SSA-1099.
The new 2025 Trump tax law raised the standard deduction and created a $6,000 senior deduction, but it didn’t change anything in how Social Security is taxed. See Social Security Is Still Taxed Under the New 2025 Trump Tax Law for more details about the senior deduction. This calculator includes both the updated standard deduction and the new $6,000 senior deduction.
It only applies to federal taxes though. State taxes don’t necessarily follow the same rules as the federal government. Different states have different rules on taxing Social Security benefits. Some states don’t tax Social Security benefits.
The calculated tax amount assumes that you take only the standard deduction and the senior deduction when eligible. It doesn’t include the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT).
If you don’t quite trust my calculator, you can double-check against the official calculator from the IRS. The IRS calculator isn’t as easy to use. It gives the same result for the taxable amount at the end, but it doesn’t include a tax estimate.
Taxable Does Not Necessarily Mean Paying Taxes
The calculator shows the taxable portion of your Social Security benefits. Having a taxable amount only means it will be included as part of your gross income on your tax return. It does not necessarily mean you’ll pay taxes.
Your gross income is still subject to your normal standard or itemized deductions to arrive at your taxable income. You still pay in your normal tax brackets of 10%, 12%, 22%, etc., on the taxable income. 50% or 85% of your benefits being taxable doesn’t mean you’ll lose 50% or 85% of your Social Security to taxes. The actual tax on your benefits is much less. The tax may be zero after applying deductions.
When more than 15% of your Social Security is tax-free, additional income outside Social Security will make more of your Social Security benefits taxable, lowering that number toward 15%. Some people call this a tax torpedo, but it’s a misleading term. It gives you the impression that Social Security is taxed more heavily than other income, which is not true. You still pay lower taxes than other people with the same income. See why that’s the case in An Unusually High Marginal Tax Rate Means Paying Lower Taxes.
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TS says
Hi Harry,
Will the calculator still work for 2025, that is, after the passage of the OBBB Act on July 4th?
Thanks!
Harry Sit says
This calculator still works the same. See Social Security Is Still Taxed Under the New 2025 Trump Tax Law.
Lee says
Cant seem to get the calculator to work? After entering numbers, it keeps popping up. “Enter a number”
Thanks
Lee says
Hmm. Is this correct? Same as prior , $25,000 ss n $60,000 ira income ? Says 85% taxable ? Thats what was before new tax bill ???
Harry Sit says
Exactly. The new tax bill didn’t change how much of Social Security is taxable. It only gave you a new temporary tax deduction totally unrelated to Social Security. See Social Security Is Still Taxed Under the New 2025 Trump Tax Law.
Lee d says
Im so disappointed at the smokescreens , i essentially , using your calculator , and $75,000 n under will NOT get ANY tax break. !!! Crazy
Clay says
Read carefully: The new 2025 Trump tax law created a $6,000 senior deduction.
Even if you don’t get a Social Security check every month … you STILL get the Senior Deduction if you are 65+ years old. It can be applied towards any income.
Got it! It is NOT a $6,000 “Social Security” deduction for those over 65 years old. It is an additional $6,000 senior (over 65) deduction
Tina Clugston says
My husband and I are both over 65 and file jointly. We receive 53k in SS and will have about $83k in interest this year. What do you figure our taxes will be? We do have a capital gain loss of $3k to claim.
Thank you!
Patricia Frost says
I was just wondering what is the lowest amount of taxes on social security that I can pay without owing at the end of the year. My total income for 2024 was 38,303.00. My federal income tax withheld on my social security was 1,668.00. I would prefer to have this amount in my ss check for myself, not on taxes. What percentage can I pay without owing at end of year. Seems high to me for my low income. At 74 years of age, seems unfair for me to be paying in taxes
Harry Sit says
How much of your $38,303 was from Social Security? Do you expect more or less the same income in 2025 as in 2024? What does the calculator say is the taxable portion of Social Security?
Tina Clugston says
Our joint SS is $53k, the $38,303 is the taxable portion of SS. About $35k more in 2025 than 2024 (from interest and IRA).
Harry Sit says
Tina – The previous questions were for Patricia. This calculator shows the taxable portion of the Social Security benefits. It doesn’t calculate how much tax you’ll pay on that taxable portion plus your other income. Maybe it should be enhanced to add that functionality, but it doesn’t right now. Please find a 1040 calculator for your purpose.
John Lowery says
My 2024 Federal Authorized Robbery Amount was $8557. My total tax was less than the combined Senior Deduction promised in the OBBBA.
Our 2025 FARA should be in the same ballpark which will mean that I should see a refund.
$12,000-$8557=$3,443 seems to imply that (Since I already withheld the $8557 during 2025) that I will have overpaid and be due a refund.
Harry Sit says
The $12,000 senior deduction is a tax deduction, not a tax credit. It doesn’t lower your tax dollar-for-dollar. Most people see a 12% benefit from the deduction, which makes it worth $1,440.
Harry Sit says
By popular demand, I added basic tax calculation to this calculator. Now it shows a tax amount in addition to the taxable portion of Social Security. The tax amount includes the effect of the raised standard deduction and the new senior deduction for age 65+ from the new tax law.
TJ says
Didn’t seniors already get an increased standard deduction (and blind people an additional increase?) Is the $6k on top of those already increased numbers?
Harry Sit says
It’s on top of the smaller increase in the standard deduction ($1,600 per person 65+ if married or $2,000 if single).
Kevin says
Where does the $34,700 Standard Deduction come from? I see a standard deduction of 30k and 1600 additional for each filer over 65 which comes out to 33,200. So where is the additional $1500 deduction coming from prior to the Sr Deduction?
Harry Sit says
The recent Trump tax law raised the $30,000 to $31,500.
Jimmy Alan Clumpner says
enhanced deduction starts to phase out at 175k on your calculator for married filing jointly both over 65, but all info I research indicates that the phase out starts at 150k
Harry Sit says
Please give an example for your inputs. When I set Social Security to zero and other income to $151,000, it shows a phased out Senior Deduction of $11,880. If I set all other income to $150k, it shows the full $12,000.
Jimmy Alan Clumpner says
ssoc 97000 + other income 54000 = 151000, enhanced deduction on calculator shows 12000
Harry Sit says
$55,725 of the $97,000 from Social Security is taxable, i.e. counts as income on the tax return. AGI is $55,725 + $54,000 = $109,725, which is below $150k. The output mentions the AGI in the parenthesis.
Jimmy Alan Clumpner says
my research indicates that the phase out for married couples over 65 is triggered on the MAGI, not the AGI
Harry Sit says
MAGI in this case is the AGI unless you have foreign earned income exclusion, or live in Puerto Rico, Guam, etc. Click on the link for the senior deduction in the output box to read more.
There are many definitions of MAGI for different purposes. MAGI for ACA health insurance adds back untaxed Social Security. MAGI for senior deduction does not.
Jimmy Alan Clumpner says
Thank you, Harry
You are correct. I’ve found at least seven different calculations for MAGI depending on how its applied. In my opinion that is an astoundingly stupid and confusing way to write instructions. On the plus side, your calculator is marvelous!
Harry Sit says
The marvelous calculator only got better. I updated it to a new version this morning. Now it considers qualified dividends and long-term capital gains taxed at lower rates and tax-free muni bond interest.
Paula says
Well done Harry. You are the best!
Holly says
Thank you so much for this!