Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: The Social Security Benefits Worksheet works out how much of your benefits are taxable. It starts from the total on your benefit statements, adds your other income, and compares the result with an amount that depends on your filing status. Line 18 is the taxable amount and goes on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 6b.
IRS worksheets read line by line: Social Security Worksheet A, Social Security Lump-Sum Worksheet 2 and Social Security Lump-Sum Election Worksheet 4.
Related reading on this site: IRS Publication 915, IRS Publication 554 and IRS publications by number.
What this worksheet is for
The line 6a and 6b instructions say “Use the Social Security Benefits Worksheet in these instructions to see if any of your benefits are taxable.” They also list cases where it is the wrong tool. “Exception. Do not use the Social Security Benefits Worksheet in these instructions if any of the following applies.”
- “You made contributions to a traditional IRA for 2025 and you or your spouse were covered by a retirement plan at work or through self-employment.”
- “You repaid any benefits in 2025 and your total repayments (box 4) were more than your total benefits for 2025 (box 3).”
- “You file Form 2555, 4563, or 8815”
The worksheet feeds Form 1040 lines 6a and 6b. If you are still estimating, the Social Security taxability calculator and the page on the Social Security tax torpedo cover the same ground. This worksheet belongs to the set at Form 1040 worksheets.
The worksheet line by line
| Line | What the worksheet says |
|---|---|
| 1 | “Enter the total amount from box 5 of all your Forms SSA-1099 and RRB-1099.” “Also enter this amount on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 6a” |
| 2 | “Multiply line 1 by 50% (0.50)” |
| 3 | “Combine the amounts from Form 1040 or 1040-SR, lines 1z, 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b, 7a, and 8” |
| 4 | “Enter the amount, if any, from Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 2a” |
| 5 | “Combine lines 2, 3, and 4” |
| 6 | “Enter the total of the amounts from Schedule 1, lines 11 through 20, and 23 and 25” |
| 7 | “Is the amount on line 6 less than the amount on line 5?” “None of your social security benefits are taxable.” “Subtract line 6 from line 5” |
| 8 | “Married filing jointly, enter $32,000” “Single, head of household, qualifying surviving spouse, or married filing separately and you lived apart from your spouse for all of 2025, enter $25,000” “skip lines 8 through 15; multiply line 7 by 85% (0.85) and enter the result on line 16. Then, go to line 17” |
| 9 | “Is the amount on line 8 less than the amount on line 7?” “Subtract line 8 from line 7” |
| 10 | “Enter $12,000 if married filing jointly; $9,000 if single, head of household, qualifying surviving spouse, or married filing separately and you lived apart from your spouse for all of 2025” |
| 11 | “Subtract line 10 from line 9. If zero or less” |
| 12 | “Enter the smaller of line 9 or line 10” |
| 13 | “Enter one-half of line 12” |
| 14 | “Enter the smaller of line 2 or line 13” |
| 15 | “Multiply line 11 by 85% (0.85). If line 11 is zero” |
| 16 | “Add lines 14 and 15” |
| 17 | “Multiply line 1 by 85% (0.85)” |
| 18 | “Taxable social security benefits. Enter the smaller of line 16 or line 17.” “Also enter this amount on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 6b” |
Lines 11 and 15 each print an instruction to enter zero in some cases; the worksheet in your instructions shows the exact wording. The worksheet’s opening notes also say “If you are married filing separately and you lived apart from your spouse for all of 2025, check the box on line 6d.”
A worked example
Illustration, not an IRS example. Suppose a single filer with benefits of $20,000 and other income that makes line 3 equal $20,000, with nothing on lines 4 or 6.
| Item | Illustration |
|---|---|
| Line 1 (benefits) | $20,000 |
| Line 2, computed: line 1 x 0.50 | $10,000 |
| Line 3 (invented) | $20,000 |
| Line 5, computed: lines 2 + 3 + 4 | $30,000 |
| Line 7, computed: line 5 minus line 6 | $30,000 |
| Line 9, computed: line 7 minus line 8 ($25,000 for single) | $5,000 |
| Line 11, computed: line 9 minus line 10 ($9,000 for single), not below zero | $0 |
| Line 12, computed: smaller of line 9 or line 10 | $5,000 |
| Line 13, computed: one-half of line 12 | $2,500 |
| Line 14, computed: smaller of line 2 or line 13 | $2,500 |
| Line 15, computed: line 11 x 0.85 | $0 |
| Line 16, computed: line 14 + line 15 | $2,500 |
| Line 17, computed: line 1 x 0.85 | $17,000 |
| Line 18, computed: smaller of line 16 or line 17 | $2,500 |
Where the number comes from
Line 1 comes from the benefit statements: “Enter the total amount from box 5 of all your Forms SSA-1099 and RRB-1099.” Line 3 pulls from the income lines of the return, and line 6 from Schedule 1, as the table shows. The worksheet’s first note covers a write-in adjustment on Schedule 1, line 24z, and says to figure it “before completing this worksheet”. Totals for the return as a whole are on the lines 9, 10 and 11 page.
Where it goes next
Line 18 reads “Taxable social security benefits. Enter the smaller of line 16 or line 17.” “Also enter this amount on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 6b”. Two steps stop the worksheet early: “None of your social security benefits are taxable.” appears at both line 7 and line 9. A tip at the bottom covers a lump-sum payment for an earlier year: “you may be able to reduce the taxable amount.”
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Instructions for Form 1040 and 1040-SR, the current file irs.gov served on 2026-10-18. It is byte-identical to the archived copy, and the Social Security Benefits Worksheet in it is for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. Check the tax year printed on the worksheet in your own instructions and use that year’s line numbers, because a different year’s worksheet can number or word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Using this worksheet after a traditional IRA contribution while covered by a plan at work. The exception says not to if “You made contributions to a traditional IRA for 2025 and you or your spouse were covered by a retirement plan at work or through self-employment.”
- Running the worksheet after repaying more than you received. The same exception list covers a repayment year, and it says “You repaid any benefits in 2025 and your total repayments (box 4) were more than your total benefits for 2025 (box 3). None of your benefits are taxable for 2025.”
- Forgetting line 6d. The worksheet says “If you are married filing separately and you lived apart from your spouse for all of 2025, check the box on line 6d.”
Related: Form 1040 lines 6a and 6b, Social Security taxability calculator, Social Security tax torpedo, and lines 9, 10 and 11.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Form 1040 and 1040-SR (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf
- Form 1040 (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 18, 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.