How to Fill Out IRS Pub 915 Worksheet 1
Understand the key IRS calculation that uses your total income to determine if your Social Security benefits are subject to federal income tax.
IRS Publication 915 provides guidance for taxpayers to determine if their Social Security or Equivalent Railroad Retirement benefits are subject to federal income tax. Within this publication, Worksheet A is the tool used to perform this initial calculation. This worksheet helps you figure your “provisional income,” which the IRS uses to establish whether a portion of your benefits will be taxed.
Information Needed to Complete Worksheet A
Before beginning Worksheet A, you must gather several figures from your annual tax documents. Your total Social Security benefits are reported in Box 5 of Form SSA-1099, Social Security Benefit Statement, or Form RRB-1099 for railroad retirement benefits. This amount is the net benefit paid to you after deductions like Medicare premiums.
You will also need to sum up all your other sources of income for the year. These include:
- Wages from Form W-2
- Distributions from pensions, annuities, or IRAs from Form 1099-R
- Dividend income from Form 1099-DIV
- Interest income from Form 1099-INT
- Realized capital gains or losses from Form 1099-B and Schedule D
Your total tax-exempt interest is also required for the calculation. This income is not subject to federal tax but is needed to determine the taxability of your benefits and can be found in Box 8 of Form 1099-INT.
Finally, you must identify any specific deductions, known as adjustments to income, from Schedule 1 of Form 1040. These are not standard or itemized deductions but specific expenses like educator expenses, traditional IRA contributions, or student loan interest.
Step-by-Step Guide to Filling Out Worksheet A
To complete Worksheet A, follow the line-by-line instructions to calculate your provisional income. This final figure is what the IRS uses to determine if your benefits are taxable.
- Enter your total Social Security or equivalent railroad retirement benefits on the first line.
- On the second line, multiply the amount from the first line by 50% (0.50).
- On the third line, sum your other income, including wages, taxable interest, dividends, and capital gains. Do not include your Social Security benefits in this total.
- Enter your tax-exempt interest on the fourth line.
- On the fifth line, add the amounts from lines 2, 3, and 4.
- On the sixth line, enter your total adjustments to income from Schedule 1.
- On the final line, subtract the amount from line 6 from the amount on line 5. This result is your provisional income.
Interpreting the Results and Next Steps
Compare your provisional income to the base amount for your filing status to determine your next step. The base amounts are $32,000 for those married filing jointly and $25,000 for single, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse filers. The base amount is also $25,000 for those married filing separately who lived apart from their spouse all year, but it is $0 for those who lived with their spouse at any point.
If your provisional income is less than or equal to your base amount, none of your Social Security or railroad retirement benefits are taxable for the year. In this case, you do not need to perform further calculations, and you will not report any taxable benefit income on your Form 1040.
If your provisional income is greater than your base amount, a portion of your benefits is subject to income tax. The result from Worksheet A is not the taxable amount itself. You must use this figure to complete a second, more detailed worksheet in Publication 915 to find the precise taxable portion.
After completing the subsequent worksheet, you will report the final figures on your tax return. Your total benefits are reported on line 6a of Form 1040 or 1040-SR, and the taxable portion you calculated is reported on line 6b.