Social Security showing zero 2024 income despite filing taxes - normal delay or should I contact SSA?

This is completely normal. The Social Security Administration only updates your earnings record once per year, after your employer files Form W-2 information. Your 2024 earnings won't appear in your Social Security record until early 2025, after your 2024 W-2 is processed. Your 2023 earnings should appear in the next few months as SSA processes all the W-2 data they received from employers in January/February 2024. SSA doesn't get real-time payroll information - they only get annual totals after the tax year ends.

The SSA is ALWAYS behind on updating income records!! I went through the exact same panic last year when I checked in March and saw nothing for the previous year. Their systems are from the stone age. One time I had to wait until JUNE to see my previous year's income show up! As long as your W2 is correct and your employer is legitimate, you'll be fine. The govt agencies don't talk to each other AT ALL.

It's actually impossible for your 2024 income to show up yet because you're still in the middle of earning it! Social Security only records completed tax years after all the W-2s and tax forms are filed. Since we're only in the first quarter of 2024, there's nothing to report yet. What you should check is if your 2023 earnings are correct - those should update sometime in the late spring or summer.

When I had this exact issue last year, I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone at Social Security. Their phone system is a nightmare - constant busy signals, disconnects after waiting 45+ minutes, and offices that are impossible to get appointments at. I finally found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual SS representative in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Turned out I didn't even need to worry - the rep explained that income records are always delayed and my earnings would show up eventually. But at least I got a definitive answer instead of stressing about it for months.

Here's the technical explanation: The Social Security Administration uses a process called Annual Wage Reporting (AWR) to update earnings records. Employers have until January 31st to submit W-2s for the previous year. The SSA then processes these forms in batches over several months. Most earnings records are updated between April and July, though some can take longer if there are discrepancies that require manual review. The important thing to understand is that your Social Security earnings record has no connection to when you file your personal tax return. It's based entirely on employer reporting through the W-2 system. If by August you don't see your 2023 earnings reflected, that would be the appropriate time to contact SSA to ensure everything is correctly recorded.

my ss account hasnt updated since 2022 lol i think theyre just super behind on everything. government efficiency at its finest 🙄

Thank you everyone for the helpful responses! I feel much better now knowing this is normal. I'll check back around July or August to make sure my 2023 earnings show up correctly. It's frustrating that there's such a long delay, but at least I know not to worry about it now.

my mom had this happen and it was fine. she called ssa and they said something about quarterly filing periods and batch processing. basicaly your 2024 work wont show up until like march 2025 lol. as long as u got your w2 and your taxes match youre good