Withholding from Social Security for federal and State tax

[DwayneB1954]

Hello,

Looked for a thread on this topic, but didn't find it.  If there is one please let me know.

Just completed application to begin SS.  I was hoping there would be an opportunity to declare the withholding rates for federal/state tax but there was no such option.

Does anyone know if this has to be adjusted after the SS payments begin?  Can State tax even be withheld from the SS payment?

Thanks!

[cat0w]

@DwayneB1954 

What state do you live in? Will you receive enough money to have to pay taxes, state and federal? 

If you have to have money withheld for federal income tax look on the IRS site for form W-4V. You will have to fill the form out and send it to your local SS office.

I live in Texas and there isn't a state tax. If you have to pay state taxes and want it withheld from SS checks then you should see if your state has a form you would have to use.

[TomD857140]

Why not just pay the tax yourself instead of having it withheld?  You can pay direct to the IRS, monthly or quarterly, an amount based on your estimated tax for the year. 

[DwayneB1954]

Maybe I'm just lazy, but estimating tax payments and making them quarterly or at some other cadence isn't appealing to me.  I'd rather have the tax withheld automatically, even though there is a small cost of having those $$ held by IRS.  The convenience is worth it to me.

I am in Ohio. have not checked whether the State can with-hold taxes; seems unlikely since this money gets moved directly from Federal treasury to bank account.   But will need to look into it.

[fffred]

I certainly understand your interest in convenience, I also am concerned about convenience.   [editing to add: and it's not so much "convenience", for me at least, as it is the relief to my mind that things are done "automatically", so I don't have to give any mental energy to keeping track of some account]

From a Google search it seems that Ohio does not tax Social Security, so it doesn't seem "direct" to have the SSA withhold for Ohio (although such withholding might cover income tax on other income).

In any case, this doesn't matter because it seems that the SSA doesn't withhold tax for anything other than Federal income tax.  See https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/taxwithold.html

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@DwayneB1954 wrote:

Maybe I'm just lazy, but estimating tax payments and making them quarterly or at some other cadence isn't appealing to me.  I'd rather have the tax withheld automatically, even though there is a small cost of having those $$ held by IRS.  The convenience is worth it to me.

I am in Ohio. have not checked whether the State can with-hold taxes; seems unlikely since this money gets moved directly from Federal treasury to bank account.   But will need to look into it.

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