Sooner or later everyone will ask this question,” Is my social security benefit taxable?”

The Social Security benefits you received in may be taxable but as always certain tax rules apply.

You should receive a Form SSA-1099 which will show the total amount of your social security benefits.

The information provided on this SSA-1099  statement along with the following seven facts  will help you determine whether or not your social security benefits are taxable.

To determine how much of your Social Security benefits maybe  taxable depends on your Total income and Marital status for the given tax year in question.

If your Social Security Benefits were your only income, your benefits are not taxable and you probably do not need to file a federal income tax return.

If you received income from other sources, your benefits will not be taxed unless your modified adjusted gross income is more than the base amount for your filing status.

Your taxable benefits and modified adjusted gross income are figured on a worksheet in the Form 1040A or Form 1040 Instruction booklet.

You can do the following quick computation to determine whether some of your benefits may be taxable:

First, add one-half of the total Social Security benefits you received to all your other income, including any tax exempt interest and other exclusions from income.
Then you are to compare this total to the base amount for your filing status.

If the total is more than your base amount, some of your benefits may be taxable.

The 2010 base amounts are:

a. $32,000 for married couples filing jointly,
b.$25,000 for single, head of household, qualifying widow/widower with a dependent child, or married individuals filing separately who did not live with their spouses at any time during the year,
c.$0 for married persons filing separately who lived together during the year.