Sometimes I wonder do I want a social security raise?

[Steve s]

Wife and I got our social security raise this month which is a good thing but also notified our Part B premium went up to $144 and deductible rose to $198 not so good. But my biggest gripe is this also puts me closer to the IRS section on do my Social Security payments get taxed which for joint is $32,000.
Half our social security and all other income must be below this before part or all social security is taxed.
If the IRS would let me at least deduct the premiums or raised the amount $32,000 every year they give me a raise it would be a more fair game. As I get closer to that $32000 I wonder if we would be better off with no raise and don't raise my premiums. Im getting closer to the $32000 which one would think ok I'm making more money but after the premium and deductible increase Im not really making that much more.
Thanks for letting me vent. Maybe 2020 the #32000 will be higher. Its that time of year...….steve

 

[pb4uski]

....If the IRS would let me at least deduct the premiums or raised the amount $32,000 every year they give me a raise it would be a more fair game. ...

It's Congress that controls that amount, not the IRS... so no need to blame the IRS.... they just use the number in the statute passed by Congress.

I can't remember the last time it was increased and it is highly unlikely that it will ever be... it is a stealth tax increase that Congress seems content to keep.

Stop whining.... put on your big boy pants and get used to the idea.

 

[niven]

I can't remember the last time it was increased and it is highly unlikely that it will ever be... it is a stealth tax increase that Congress seems content to keep.

+1

The limits haven't been changed since being implemented in 1983.

And then they added the 85% taxable limits in 1993, which haven't changed either.

 

[GenXguy]

I don't want to rehash this in another thread since this was discussed in the thread I'll link to here. Hopefully, the the tax problem will be fixed in the coming years. More people need to complain about it, but too many aren't even aware of it.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f52/the-future-of-ss-101442.html

 

[ziggy29]

Yeah, this is just a problem with how Congress "fixed" SS in the early 1980s. Like the AMT for so long, this $25,000/$32,000 threshold for taxing SS has not changed for over 35 years, when it originally supposed to hit only higher income taxpayers. This needs to be fixed, IMO. It needs to be raised -- probably tripled at least -- and indexed to inflation in the future.

How much you pay for Medicare is a different story, but it would hurt a lot less if the taxation of benefits wasn't so punitive for even the lower middle class.

 

[racy]

...Like the AMT ...when it originally supposed to hit only higher income taxpayers......

Yes, I am mindful of this whenever I hear proposals to "tax the wealthy". In time, that'll be most taxpayers.

 

[Steve s]

Thanks for the replies. Always feel a little better after a vent. Thanks for the shoulder!

 

[Brett_Cameron]

Wife and I got our social security raise this month which is a good thing but also notified our Part B premium went up to $144 and deductible rose to $198 not so good. But my biggest gripe is this also puts me closer to the IRS section on do my Social Security payments get taxed which for joint is $32,000.
Half our social security and all other income must be below this before part or all social security is taxed.
If the IRS would let me at least deduct the premiums or raised the amount $32,000 every year they give me a raise it would be a more fair game. As I get closer to that $32000 I wonder if we would be better off with no raise and don't raise my premiums. Im getting closer to the $32000 which one would think ok I'm making more money but after the premium and deductible increase Im not really making that much more.
Thanks for letting me vent. Maybe 2020 the #32000 will be higher. Its that time of year...….steve

Medicare Part B and D premiums are deductible,

 

[RunningBum]

Half our social security and all other income must be below this before part or all social security is taxed.

Under the current tax code, at no point is ALL social security taxed. 85% is the top, right?

You're not getting taxed (including medicare premiums) more money than the SS benefit increase, are you? I suppose it's possible with the IRMAA increases, but it seems unlikely.

 

[GenXguy]

Medicare Part B and D premiums are deductible,

Only the amount that exceeds 10%* of your AGI, and only if it benefits you to itemize, and with the high standard deduction, that's very few people these days.

* I think it's 10% now and used to be 7.5%.

 

[GenXguy]

Under the current tax code, at no point is ALL social security taxed. 85% is the top, right?

Yeah, it's up to 85% at the federal level, for now.

 

[Philliefan33]

Only the amount that exceeds 10%* of your AGI, and only if it benefits you to itemize, and with the high standard deduction, that's very few people these days.

* I think it's 10% now and used to be 7.5%.

It was 7.5%, then went to 10%, but for TY 2019 it is back to 7.5%.

 

[Chuckanut]

I can't remember the last time it was increased and it is highly unlikely that it will ever be... it is a stealth tax increase that Congress seems content to keep.

+1


No doubt it is part of the plan to fix SS funding problems. They must have forgotten to mention it during the last election cycle.

 

[GenXguy]

No doubt it is part of the plan to fix SS funding problems. They must have forgotten to mention it during the last election cycle.

If only this bill would pass, it would help make up for so many years of the thresholds not being adjusted for inflation.

H.R.860 - Social Security 2100 Act