Confused about SSA-1099 tax form for first time SS benefit recipient - when will it arrive?

You're looking for the SSA-1099 form (Social Security Benefit Statement). It gets mailed out automatically by January 31st each year to everyone who received benefits during the previous tax year. You don't need to request it. If you don't receive it by early February, you can get a replacement through your my Social Security account online or by contacting SSA directly.

If ur like me and u lose everything, u can also see it online if u have mysocialsecurity account setup. thats what i do cuz my mail gets mixed up alot

I was in your exact situation last year! So nervous about getting everything right for taxes after starting SS. The form is called SSA-1099 and you'll get it by end of January. Make sure you understand how your benefits might be taxable depending on your total income. I freaked out when I realized up to 85% of my SS could be taxed! Do you have other income sources besides Social Security? That determines if you'll owe taxes on your benefits.

Just to add some clarification here - the SSA-1099 shows your total benefits received during the calendar year. Box 5 on the form shows the net benefits you received after any deductions. That's the number you'll use when calculating if your benefits are taxable. And yes, if you have other substantial income, up to 85% of your SS benefits can be taxable. You'll use the worksheet in your 1040 instructions or tax software to determine the exact amount. The basic income thresholds where taxation begins are: - $25,000 for single filers - $32,000 for married filing jointly This is calculated using your adjusted gross income plus nontaxable interest plus half of your Social Security benefits.

I just went thru this too! Make sure you check your MySocialSecurity account in February if you dont get the form in mail. My neighbor never got hers and ended up filing late because of it! Stress city!

I've been trying to get someone at Social Security on the phone for THREE WEEKS about my missing 1099 from last year that I never received. Either busy signals or 2+ hour hold times that disconnect. Completely ridiculous! I needed it for a mortgage application and ended up having to go to the local office and wait 4 hours. Not looking forward to this happening again.

Just another helpful tip: when you get your SSA-1099, double-check that the amount shown matches what you actually received. When I first started benefits, there was a discrepancy between what I received and what was on the form. Took forever to resolve, but it's important to make sure it's correct before filing your taxes.

my tax guy says dont panic if u dont get it right away, ssa sometimes is slow with sending them but u can always print from online

One more important thing to understand: if you're having taxes withheld from your Social Security payments already (which is optional), that will be reflected on your SSA-1099 too. Look at Box 6 on the form when you get it - that shows how much federal tax was withheld during the year, if any. If you're not having taxes withheld yet but are concerned about owing at tax time, you can file Form W-4V with Social Security to request voluntary withholding at 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22% of your monthly benefit.

DONT FORGET that if you're on Medicare and have the premiums deducted from your SS payment, the SSA-1099 will show the GROSS amount before those deductions! The Medicare premiums could be deductible on your Schedule A if you itemize and meet the threshold. Learned that one the hard way!!