For single filers, the combined-income taxation threshold is $25,000. The 50 percent tax on benefits hits combined incomes from $25,000 to $34,000, and 85 percent for amounts above that.
For people tapping their Roth IRA — whose withdrawals generally are tax-free in retirement — a tax return might not be needed.
For illustration, say a married couple has two sources of income: Social Security ($30,000 annually) and a Roth IRA ($30,000 each year). Because the Roth distributions are untaxed and their Social Security benefits fall below the $32,000 threshold, all of that income would be tax-free.
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Even some taxpayers with sources of taxable income, such as a traditional IRA or 401(k) plan — and whose Social Security ends up getting partly taxed — can find themselves without a filing requirement.
“Once you subtract out the standard deduction, they sometimes don’t have any tax liability,” Jones said.
Because the standard deduction has nearly doubled for all taxpayers for 2018 through 2025 — and taxpayers age 65 or older continue getting an extra deduction — there’s a chance even more retirees won’t have to file than in the past.
Source : CNBC
