Got an IRS letter questioning my excess Social Security tax claim - need help
I switched jobs in the middle of 2023 and filed my taxes using FreeTaxPro. I've been using them since 2015 with no issues until now. For my 2023 taxes, I had two W-2s because of the job change. My first W-2 had $4,432 in Social Security taxes withheld, and my second W-2 had $5,978 withheld for SS taxes. Since I know there's a maximum amount of SS tax ($9,114 for 2023), I claimed the excess on line 71 of my 1040 form. My calculation was: $4,432 + $5,978 - $9,114 = $1,296 excess SS tax that I claimed as a refund. I don't do any itemized deductions and don't have any other income sources - no 1099s or anything else. Just these two W-2 forms. Today I got this letter from the IRS questioning my excess SS tax claim. I'm confused because I thought my calculation was correct. Has anyone else dealt with this situation? How should I respond to the IRS?
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Zadie Patel
This is a common issue when you have multiple employers in the same year. Each employer withholds Social Security tax without knowing how much the other employer already withheld. You're absolutely right that there's a maximum SS tax you should pay, and you're entitled to get back any excess. For 2023, the Social Security wage base limit was $160,200, meaning the maximum Social Security tax an employee should pay was $9,932.40 (6.2% of $160,200). Looking at your numbers, you paid $10,410 in total SS tax, which is $477.60 over the limit - slightly different from your calculation of $1,296. The IRS might be questioning the amount you claimed. I'd recommend double-checking your W-2s and making sure the amount you calculated matches what was actually withheld. Also verify that you entered the numbers correctly on your tax return. Sometimes the IRS system will flag these claims automatically for verification.
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A Man D Mortal
•Thanks for explaining this! I'm in a similar situation but with 3 W-2s. Is there a specific form I need to fill out to claim the excess SS tax, or do I just put it on line 71? Also, do I need to attach copies of my W-2s as proof?
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Zadie Patel
•You don't need a special form to claim the excess Social Security tax. You simply enter the excess amount directly on line 71 (Schedule 3, Part II, line 11 for more recent returns) of your Form 1040. You generally don't need to attach copies of your W-2s as proof when e-filing, as the IRS already receives this information directly from your employers. However, if you're responding to an IRS notice, it's a good idea to include copies of your W-2s with your response to help them verify your claim more quickly.
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Declan Ramirez
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Emma Morales
•Does taxr.ai handle other tax problems too? I got a letter about my Earned Income Credit claim and I'm lost on how to respond.
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Katherine Hunter
•I'm suspicious of these tax help websites. How do you know it's giving you the right information? Anyone can make a website that looks official. Did you end up getting your full refund?
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Declan Ramirez
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Katherine Hunter
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Lucas Parker
If you're having trouble resolving this with the IRS through correspondence, I found that getting through to an actual IRS agent using https://claimyr.com was a game-changer for me. I had a similar excess Social Security tax issue that went back and forth through letters for months, and one 20-minute phone call with an IRS agent fixed everything. The problem with these excess SS tax claims is that they often get automatically flagged in the IRS system, and written responses can take forever to process. You can check out how the service works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they wait on hold with the IRS for you and call you when an agent picks up. I waited over 2 hours the last time I tried calling myself, but with this service I only had to get on the phone when an actual human was ready to talk.
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Donna Cline
•How does that even work? Do they have some special access to the IRS phone system that normal people don't have?
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Harper Collins
•Sounds like a scam to me. The IRS doesn't give priority access to third parties. You probably just got lucky with timing and would have gotten through eventually yourself. I've never had to wait more than 30 minutes to talk to the IRS.
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Lucas Parker
•They don't have special access to the IRS. They use an automated system that handles the hold time for you. Basically, they call the IRS, navigate the phone tree, wait on hold, and then call you when a real person answers. You're talking directly to the IRS agent, not through an intermediary. I definitely didn't get lucky with timing. I had tried calling multiple times myself over several weeks, always waiting 1-2+ hours before giving up. The IRS phone lines have been notoriously overloaded since the pandemic. If you're only waiting 30 minutes, you're the lucky one - most people report much longer wait times. The Congressional taxpayer advocate has even highlighted excessive IRS phone wait times as a major issue in their annual reports.
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Harper Collins
I need to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself with an issue I've been trying to resolve with the IRS for months. I couldn't believe how well it worked. I got a call back in about 40 minutes (while I was just going about my day), and within 15 minutes on the phone with the IRS agent, we resolved an issue I'd been trying to fix through letters for over 3 months. The agent explained that my excess Social Security tax claim (similar to yours) had been flagged because one of my employers reported the wrong Social Security wages on my W-2. Once I could actually talk to someone, they could see all my records and fix the issue immediately instead of going through the automated review process. They're processing a corrected refund for me now. I'm honestly shocked at how much easier it was than what I've been trying.
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Kelsey Hawkins
Make sure to double check if you actually exceeded the wage base for Social Security. The letter is probably saying that while you had more than $9,114 WITHHELD in SS tax, you might not have had more than $160,200 in SS WAGES between both jobs. For example, if Job 1 paid you $70,000 and Job 2 paid you $75,000, your total SS wages were $145,000 - which is under the limit, so you wouldn't be entitled to any excess SS tax refund, even though both employers withheld at the 6.2% rate. The only way you're eligible for the refund is if your combined SS wages exceeded $160,200.
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Ali Anderson
•I think you might be right! Looking at my W-2s again, my total wages for the year were around $145,000. I didn't realize that the excess refund was based on exceeding the wage base, not just on the total amount withheld. I thought if the combined withholding exceeded the max, I'd get the difference back regardless of my total wages. So even though I had more than $9,932 withheld between both jobs, I'm not actually entitled to a refund because my total wages didn't exceed $160,200? That explains the IRS letter then.
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Kelsey Hawkins
•Exactly! You've got it now. The excess Social Security tax refund only applies when your total Social Security wages exceed the annual wage base ($160,200 for 2023). The system is designed to ensure you don't pay more than 6.2% on income above that threshold. Since your total wages were around $145,000, which is under the wage base limit, the full 6.2% Social Security tax applies to all your earnings. Even though the combined withholding might seem high, it's technically correct based on your total wages. When you respond to the IRS, simply acknowledge that you misunderstood how the excess Social Security tax rule works, and they should close the case without any penalties since it was an honest mistake.
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Dylan Fisher
I'm confused about something. If the FICA wage limit is $160,200 for 2023, and 6.2% of that is $9,932.40, then why would both employers withhold more than that? Shouldn't they each be checking if you've hit the limit?
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Zadie Patel
•That's the catch with having multiple employers in the same year! Each employer has no way of knowing how much you've earned at other jobs, so they each withhold the standard 6.2% on your earnings up to the $160,200 limit as if they're your only employer. The system is designed this way because employers don't share payroll information with each other. If you work for two employers and earn $100,000 from each in the same year, both will withhold $6,200 in Social Security tax, for a total of $12,400. Since that exceeds the maximum you should pay ($9,932.40), you can claim the difference ($2,467.60) as a refund on your tax return. But this only applies if your TOTAL wages exceed the $160,200 threshold.
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