Taxable SS benefit? ? ?

If I may add a corollary question: What is the magic AGI number at which taxation of the maximum

It's dependent on your filing status: MFJ, $32,000 + $12,000 = 50%; then, depending on the total SS received by the couple, it quickly escalates to the maximum of 85%. And, just to complicate the formula, it isn't simply tied to AGI -- it's really _M_AGI (MAGI) or "Modified Adjusted Gross Income." The principal (though not only) modification many folks suffer from is "tax-exempt income." Those "tax-free" muni bonds get added into your AGI on the Social Security Worksheet. This has long been decried as an "end-around" of the prohibition on taxation of the several State's sources of capital for public works -- but nobody's succeeded in changing it. For filing status Single: $25,000 + $9,000 is the end point for the 50%; then on up to 85%. Married Filing Separately (and you lived with your wife at any time during the tax year): Go directly to Jail -- er, to 85%. No allowances, just simply multiply your total SS income by 85%. snipped-for-privacy@nospamplease.net (William Brenner) kicked in with this:

The "magic" was a pun, I trust. The fact that it matches the "M" in "modified" has to be more than a coincidence. But you did provoke some minor effort on my part to determine a "magic" figure that works. In fact, that's frustratingly dependent on the total SS received by the couple (in an MFJ situation). So I grant you full credit for the provocative question which underlines the diabolical qualities of the Worksheet. Indeed, "what hath [the IRS] wrought?" Bill

There's a basic calculator at:

-- Alan

Thanks -- exactly what I needed.