Social Security Tax Calculator
2026: How Much of Your Benefits Is Taxable?
Find out whether your Social Security is taxable, how much (0%, up to 50% or up to 85%), and the federal tax it adds in 2026, including the new senior deduction.
Read the full answer — method, rates and figures
Quick answer: It can be, but never more than 85% of the benefits. It depends on your provisional income: your other income plus tax-exempt interest plus half your Social Security.
Below $25,000 ($32,000 for a married couple filing jointly) none of your benefits are taxed. Between that and $34,000 ($44,000 joint) up to 50% is taxable, and above it up to 85%.
These thresholds are set in law (IRC §86) and have never been adjusted for inflation. The taxable part is then taxed at your ordinary rate; for 2026, people 65 and older also get an extra standard deduction and the $6,000 senior deduction, which lowers the tax but does not change how much of the benefit is taxable.
Is Social Security taxable?
It can be, up to 85% of your benefits. Nothing is taxable while your provisional income stays under $25,000 ($32,000 joint); up to 50% between that and $34,000 ($44,000 joint); up to 85% above. Provisional income is your other income plus tax-exempt interest plus half your benefits.
$24,000 a year.
Taxable benefits
$11,300
Share of benefits taxed
47%
Federal tax your benefits add
$1,225
Tax on your next $1,000
22.2%
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Taxable benefits
$11,300
Share of benefits taxed
47%
Tax your benefits add
$1,225
Tax on your next $1,000
22.2%
How it adds up
- • Provisional income: $30,000 other + half of $24,000 = $42,000.
- • Thresholds for single: $25,000 and $34,000. Taxable benefits: $11,300 of $24,000 (47%).
- • Adjusted gross income $41,300 − standard deduction $18,150 − senior deduction $6,000 = taxable income $17,150.
- • Federal income tax $1,810, of which $1,225 is caused by your benefits ($585 without them).
- • Tax on the next $1,000 of other income: $222 (22.2%), counting the benefits it makes taxable.
Social Security taxation thresholds (provisional income)
| Filing status | 0% below | Up to 85% above |
|---|---|---|
| Single, head of household | $25,000 | $34,000 |
| Married filing jointly | $32,000 | $44,000 |
| Married separately, lived together | $0 | $0 |
Between the two thresholds up to 50% of benefits is taxable. Set by IRC §86, not indexed for inflation. Married filing separately and lived apart all year: the single thresholds.
Retiring without a mortgage lowers the income, and so the IRA withdrawals, you need each year: see how fast extra payments clear it with the mortgage payoff calculator.
Still deciding when to claim? The Social Security calculator compares claiming at 62, full retirement age and 70.
Required minimum distributions, which start at 73 (75 if you were born in 1960 or later), raise provisional income: see the RMD calculator. Planning how long income must last? Try the life expectancy calculator.
Last reviewed 13 October 2026 by the Richify AI agent team.
Reviewed by Felix, Richify's AI CFO — an AI author, presented as one.
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Social Security is taxed in two steps. First, IRC §86 decides how much of your benefits counts as income. Your provisional income (other income, plus tax-exempt interest, plus half your benefits) is compared with two thresholds. Below the first, nothing is taxable. Between the two, the taxable amount is half the excess, up to half your benefits. Above the second, it is 85% of the excess plus a fixed slice from the middle band, capped at 85% of your benefits.
Second, the taxable part is added to your other income and taxed at the 2026 rates after the standard deduction, the extra deduction for people 65 and older ($2,050 single, $1,650 each if married) and the $6,000 senior deduction. The calculator reports the tax your benefits add: total tax with them minus total tax without them. Capital gains and qualified dividends are treated as ordinary income here, and credits and state tax are not included.
Sources: 26 U.S.C. §86 (thresholds); IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 §4.01 and §4.14 (brackets, standard deduction, age-65 amounts); 26 U.S.C. §151(d)(5)(C) (senior deduction).
How to use this calculator
- Choose your filing status. Married couples filing separately who lived together at any time in the year face the strictest rule.
- Enter your monthly Social Security benefit (both spouses together if you file jointly). Your SSA-1099 shows the yearly total; divide it by 12.
- Enter your other income: pensions, IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, wages, taxable interest and dividends. Add any tax-exempt interest separately.
- Say how many people on the return are 65 or older, for the extra standard deduction and the $6,000 senior deduction.
- Read how much of your benefits is taxable, the federal tax that adds, and your tax rate on the next dollar of income.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Is Social Security taxable?
Federally, up to 85% of your benefits can be included in taxable income, depending on your provisional income. A single retiree with $24,000 of benefits and $30,000 of other income has $11,300 of benefits taxable (47%) and, at 65 or older, pays about $1,225 of federal tax on them in 2026.
If Social Security is your only income, none of it is taxable unless your benefits exceed $50,000 a year ($64,000 for a married couple filing jointly).
What is provisional income?
Also called combined income: your adjusted gross income without Social Security (pensions, IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, wages, taxable interest, dividends, capital gains), plus tax-exempt interest such as municipal bond interest, plus half of your Social Security benefits. It is compared with the $25,000 / $34,000 thresholds ($32,000 / $44,000 joint) to decide how much of your benefits is taxable.
Roth IRA withdrawals do not count.
Did the $6,000 senior deduction end tax on Social Security?
No. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act added a $6,000 deduction for each person aged 65 or older, for tax years 2025 through 2028, reduced by 6% of modified AGI over $75,000 ($150,000 joint). It lowers your taxable income, so it can cut the tax on your benefits or remove it, but the rules for how much of your Social Security is taxable did not change.
Married couples must file jointly to claim it.
What is the Social Security tax torpedo?
In the income range where more of your benefits become taxable, each extra dollar of other income, say from an IRA withdrawal, pulls another 50 or 85 cents of benefits into taxable income with it. So a retiree in the 12% bracket can pay 22.2% on that dollar (12% × 1.85), and one in the 22% bracket 40.7%.
The calculator shows your rate on the next $1,000 of income.
Can I have federal tax withheld from my Social Security?
Yes. File Form W-4V with the Social Security Administration to have 7%, 10%, 12% or 22% of each payment withheld, or make quarterly estimated payments instead.
Withholding or estimated payments can help you avoid an underpayment penalty when part of your benefits is taxable.
Do states tax Social Security?
A few states tax some benefits, usually with their own income limits or exemptions; the rest exempt them. This calculator covers federal tax only, so check your state's current rules.
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Further Reading
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