What is deducted from your monthly social security check

Answer

Social security benefits include monthly retirement, survivor and disability benefits. They don't include supplemental security income (SSI) payments, which aren't taxable. 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. The taxable portion of the benefits that's included in your income and used to calculate your income tax liability depends on the total amount of your income and benefits for the taxable year. You report the taxable portion of your social security benefits on line 6b of Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR.

Your benefits may be taxable if the total of (1) one-half of your benefits, plus (2) all of your other income, including tax-exempt interest, is greater than the base amount for your filing status.

The base amount for your filing status is:

  • $25,000 if you're single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er),
  • $25,000 if you're married filing separately and lived apart from your spouse for the entire year,
  • $32,000 if you're married filing jointly,
  • $0 if you're married filing separately and lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year.

If you're married and file a joint return, you and your spouse must combine your incomes and social security benefits when figuring the taxable portion of your benefits. Even if your spouse didn't receive any benefits, you must add your spouse's income to yours when figuring on a joint return if any of your benefits are taxable.

Generally, you can figure the taxable amount of the benefits in Are My Social Security or Railroad Retirement Tier I Benefits Taxable?, on a worksheet in the Instructions for Form 1040 (and Form 1040-SR) or in Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits. However, if you made contributions to a traditional Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) for 2021 and you or your spouse were covered by a retirement plan at work or through self-employment, use the worksheets in Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), to see if any of your social security benefits are taxable and to figure your IRA deduction.

Social Security offers a monthly benefit check to many kinds of recipients. As of June 2022, the average check is $1,542.22, according to the Social Security Administration – but that amount can differ drastically depending on the type of recipient. In fact, retirees typically make more than the overall average.

Here’s the average Social Security check by recipient, how much your check could grow over time as well as the maximum benefit.

While most people think of Social Security as a program just for retirees, it serves many other groups, including the disabled, spouses and minor children of retirees as well as the spouses and minor children of deceased workers. The amount that each group receives differs substantially.

In fact, the average retired worker receives $1,669.44 each month – about 8 percent more than Social Security recipients as a whole. Here’s how the figures break down by recipient, as of June 2022.

Type of beneficiaryPercent of total payoutsAverage monthly benefit
All recipients 100% $1,542.22
Retirement benefits 77.2% $1,623.10
   Retired workers 73.0% $1,669.44
Survivor benefits 8.9% $1,328.21
   Nondisabled widow(er)s 5.4% $1,562.09
Disability insurance 13.8% $1,228.87
   Disabled workers 11.9% $1,361.88

Source: Social Security Administration, June 2022

The table shows the three major recipient categories in bold: retirement benefits, survivor benefits and disability benefits. The totals from these categories add up to 100 percent. The sub-category below each shows the top recipient of Social Security aid for that category.

As you can see, retirement benefits make up the vast bulk of Social Security – 77.2 percent – with most of that going to retired workers. The remainder in this category goes to spouses and minor children of retired workers, who receive a check of about $800 a month on average.

Survivor benefits comprise 8.9 percent of Social Security benefits. The top sub-category is non-disabled widows or widowers, who receive an average of $1,562.09 each month.

Disability insurance comprises about 13.8 percent of all Social Security payments, and the top recipient is disabled workers, who receive an average $1,361.88.

Those benefits may not be entirely taxable, either. Some Social Security recipients can also avoid taxes – legally – on their benefit check.

Benefits rise with cost of living adjustments

While the Social Security benefit is a nice chunk of change, if it stayed the same over the next 30 years, its purchasing power would decline due to inflation. That’s why Social Security increases its benefit checks over time with a cost of living adjustment, or COLA.

This increase is based on one version of the Consumer Price Index, which measures how much inflation has affected the prices that consumers pay for goods and services.

Usually, the COLA is relatively small, but the increase for 2022 is 5.9 percent due to higher inflation. Here’s the level of adjustments that recipients have enjoyed over the past decade.

YearCOLA increaseYearCOLA increase
2022 5.9% 2017 0.3%
2021 1.3% 2016 0%
2020 1.6% 2015 1.7%
2019 2.8% 2014 1.5%
2018 2.0% 2013 1.7%

Source: Social Security Administration

So what would your total check be if you started with a $1,000 benefit in 2012? You’d be receiving $1,203.38 in 2022.

What is the maximum monthly Social Security benefit?

The most you could receive from Social Security depends on a few factors: how much you’ve earned over your working life, when you begin to take your benefits, and your COLA increase. Over time your benefits will increase if the COLA indicates an increase, of course.

The maximum initial monthly benefit for 2022 by retirement age:

  • At age 62: $2,364
  • At age 65: $2,993
  • At age 66: $3,240
  • At age 70: $4,194

These figures assume a worker had steady earnings at the maximum taxable level since age 22. For 2022, maximum taxable income is $147,000, a number that usually rises each year. Here’s how to estimate your benefit check.

Your benefit depends on how much you’ve earned, up to some maximum each year. And taking your benefit later in your life can also increase it substantially. Workers are able to claim a benefit early, at age 62, if they’ve contributed 10 years of work, before they reach what’s called full retirement age, which can range from 65 to 67, depending on when you were born.

If you claim early benefits, your check will be less than it otherwise could be at full retirement or even later. If you wait until age 70 to claim benefits, you’ll receive still more each month.

In fact, the right age to claim Social Security is probably the single most debated topic about the program.

To receive these benefits, you pay Social Security taxes of 6.2 percent on your income, up to the maximum tax income. Your employer pays another 6.2 percent of your salary into the fund, but if you’re self-employed you foot that portion of the tax bill, too.

Bottom line

The average Social Security check was never meant to replace a retired worker’s full income, and so it’s important that Social Security be part of your overall retirement plan, not your single source of income. If you have years to go before retirement, it’s vital that you get started on saving and investing while you still have time working in your favor.

What deductions come out of your Social Security check?

Part of your payment may be withheld for:.
Medicare Premium payments,.
Overpayment of Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits,.
Excess earnings,.
Voluntary income tax withholding,.
Payment of your appointed representative..

How much is taken out of your Social Security check for Medicare?

Yes. In fact, if you are signed up for both Social Security and Medicare Part B — the portion of Medicare that provides standard health insurance — the Social Security Administration will automatically deduct the premium from your monthly benefit. The standard Part B premium in 2022 is $170.10 a month.

Is Medicare Part B automatically deducted from Social Security?

Part B (Medical Insurance) premium deducted automatically from their Social Security benefit payment (or Railroad Retirement Board benefit payment). If you don't get benefits from Social Security (or the Railroad Retirement Board), you'll get a premium bill from Medicare.

How much tax is taken out of my monthly Social Security check?

NOTE: The 7.65% tax rate is the combined rate for Social Security and Medicare. The Social Security portion (OASDI) is 6.20% on earnings up to the applicable taxable maximum amount (see below). The Medicare portion (HI) is 1.45% on all earnings.