Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: Worksheet 3 in Publication 915 is the older-year twin of Worksheet 2. It is for a lump-sum payment that covers 1993 or an earlier year, and it uses only the 50 percent tier, because the 85 percent tier did not exist then. Line 14 is the additional taxable benefit and goes to line 20 of Worksheet 4.
What Worksheet 3 is for
The publication sorts the earlier years: “Use Worksheet 3 if it was for 1993 or an earlier year.” Payments for years before 1984 are not taxed at all, and the form will not show them. If you elect the lump-sum method, Form 1040 line 6c reads “If you elect to use the lump-sum election method, check here (see instructions)”. For a payment for a later year use Worksheet 2.
The worksheet line by line
| Line | What the worksheet says |
|---|---|
| Which year | “Worksheet 3. Figure Your Additional Taxable Benefits (From a Lump-Sum Payment for a Year Before 1994)” |
| 1 | “Enter the total amount from box 5 of ALL your Forms SSA-1099 and RRB-1099 for the earlier year, plus the lump-sum payment for the earlier year received after that year” |
| 2 | “Multiply line 1 by 50% (0.50)” |
| 3 | “Enter your adjusted gross income for the earlier year” |
| 4 | “Enter the total of any exclusions/adjustments you claimed in the earlier year for:” the list is qualified U.S. savings bond interest (Form 8815), foreign earned income or housing (Form 2555) and certain income of bona fide residents of American Samoa or Puerto Rico. |
| 5 | “Enter any tax-exempt interest received in the earlier year” |
| 6 | “Add lines 2 through 5” |
| 7 | “Enter your taxable benefits for the earlier year that you previously reported” |
| 8 | “Subtract line 7 from line 6” |
| 9 | “Enter $25,000 ($32,000 if married filing jointly for the earlier year; or -0- if married filing separately for the earlier year and you lived with your spouse at any time during the earlier year)” |
| 10 | “Is the amount on line 8 more than the amount on line 9?” No: skip to line 14 and enter -0-. Yes: “Subtract line 9 from line 8” |
| 11 | “Multiply line 10 by 50% (0.50)” |
| 12 | “Refigured taxable benefits. Enter the smaller of line 2 or line 11” |
| 13 | “Enter your taxable benefits for the earlier year (or as refigured due to a previous lump-sum payment for the year)” |
| 14 | “Additional taxable benefits. Subtract line 13 from line 12.” “Also enter this amount on Worksheet 4, line 20” |
A worked example
Illustration, not an IRS example. Every input is invented, and the filer was single in the earlier year with nothing previously reported.
| Item | Illustration |
|---|---|
| Line 1 (invented) | $4,000 |
| Line 2, computed: line 1 x 50% | $2,000 (computed) |
| Line 3: adjusted gross income for the earlier year (invented) | $30,000 |
| Line 6, computed: line 2 + line 3 (lines 4 and 5 are zero) | $32,000 (computed) |
| Line 8, computed: line 6 minus line 7 (line 7 is zero) | $32,000 (computed) |
| Line 10, computed: line 8 minus line 9 (the $25,000 single base) | $7,000 (computed) |
| Line 11, computed: line 10 x 50% | $3,500 (computed) |
| Line 12, computed: smaller of line 2 and line 11 | $2,000 (computed) |
| Line 14, computed: line 12 minus line 13 (line 13 is zero) | $2,000 (computed) |
The $2,000 is half the benefits that belong to that year, because line 11 would have allowed $3,500 but line 2 caps the figure at half the benefits. That $2,000 is carried to line 20 of Worksheet 4.
Why there is a separate worksheet
The 85 percent tier applies to years after 1993, so Worksheet 3 stops at 50 percent: line 12 is the smaller of line 2 and line 11, with no second tier. The current-year calculation is at the Social Security Benefits Worksheet.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads Publication 915 (2025), the current file irs.gov served on 2026-10-21 (sha256 in the kit data). The worksheets in it are for the 2025 return, filed in 2026. Check the tax year printed on the worksheet in your own copy and use that year’s line numbers and dollar amounts, because a different year’s worksheet can word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Filing an amended return for the earlier year. “Don’t file an amended return for this earlier year.”
- Adding a second tier. This worksheet has none; line 12 is “Enter the smaller of line 2 or line 11”
- Using it for 1994 or later. Those years belong on Worksheet 2.
Related: Form 1040 lines 6a and 6b, Social Security Benefits Worksheet, and Form SSA-1099 box 5.
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Answer againSources
- Publication 915 (2025), Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p915.pdf
- Form 1040 (2025), U.S. Individual Income Tax Return: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.