How to Claim Social Security Tax

You must use form 1040 or 1040A to claim excess Social Security tax withheld.

Social Security taxes are part of the payroll taxes employers are required to withhold from your paycheck. The Social Security tax is limited to a certain amount of income per year. For 2010, the Social Security tax applies to the first $106,800 of earned income and this amount will adjust each year for inflation. If you have only only one employer, the employer will know to stop collecting Social Security tax after you reach the annual income limit. However, if you have multiple employers, you may have excess Social Security tax withheld, which you can then claim on your federal income tax return.

Things You'll Need

• Form 1040A or 1040
• W-2 forms

Instructions

1. Consult your W-2 forms from each employer to determine the total amount of Social Security tax withheld from your paychecks during the year. The amount of Social Security tax withheld can be found in box 4.

2. Add the Social Security tax withheld from each job plus any other Social Security taxes paid, such as Social Security tax on tips or group term life insurance, to find the total amount withheld. For example, if employer A withheld $5,000 and employer B withheld $4,500, your total would be $9,500.

3. Subtract the maximum amount of Social Security tax for the year from total amount of Social Security withheld from all employers to find how much excess Social Security tax you paid. Continuing the example, for 2010 the maximum Social Security tax is $6,621.60, so you would subtract $6,621.60 from $9,500 to find an excess of $2,878.40 was withheld.

4. Report the excess withholding on line 44 of form 1040A or line 69 of form 1040. This amount will be credited toward the income tax you owe.

References

• IRS: Publciation 505 - Excess Social Security or Railroad Retirement Tax Withholding

Resources

• IRS: Form 1040
• IRS: Form 1040A
• IRS: Form W-2