Get Publication 1639 (Rev. 10-2023). Social Security Administration/Internal Revenue Service (SSA/IRS)

You report the taxable portion of your social security benefits on line 6b of Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR.

You would not be required to file a tax return. But you might want to file a return, because even though you are not required to pay taxes on your Social Security, you may be able to get a refund of any money withheld from your paycheck for taxes.

The net amount of social security benefits that you receive from the Social Security Administration is reported in Box 5 of Form SSA-1099, Social Security Benefit Statement, and you report that amount on line 6a of Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return or Form 1040-SR, U.S. Tax Return for Seniors.

If you do not pay the tax or contact the IRS within 30 days of the date of the notice, the IRS is allowed to levy on your Social Security benefits. Once your payments are levied, you will receive a notice indicating the amount of the levy.

The IRS may therefore share information with SSA about Social Security and Medicare tax liability if necessary to establish the taxpayer's liability. This provision does not allow the IRS to disclose your tax information to SSA for any other reason.

A beneficiary must file IRS Form W-4V, Voluntary Withholding Request with the Social Security Administration to authorize voluntary withholding of Federal Income tax. The IRS Form W-4V has allowed individuals to select one of several percentage rates of withholding since this option became available.

We may collect personal information about you (such as name, email address, Social Security number or other unique identifier) only if you specifically and knowingly provide it to us. We will use your information to process requests for certain services or information.

Under the automated Federal Payment Levy Program, the IRS can garnish up to 15 percent of Social Security benefits. For example, if your benefit is $1,000, the IRS can take up to $150.