Is Your SSDI Income Taxable? Learn When the IRS Taxes Social Security Disability Benefits

Social Security Disability Insurance is a lifeline for the disabled in terms of financial support, but do you know that a portion of your disability or retirement benefit may be taxable? Do you owe taxes on such benefits? The answer lies in your total income for the year.

Let’s discuss how SSDI is taxed, what income limits apply, and how much of your benefit is potentially taxable.

Tax forms

The SSA sends Form SSA-1099 every year. It is also known as the Social Security Benefit Statement. This keeps a record of your SSDI benefits and informs you whether you have to pay taxes on these benefits.
Although the SSI benefits are nontaxable, the SSDI may be subjected to taxation depending on your income level.

Income Thresholds

The benefits you receive through SSDI are taxable when your total income-that is, your SSDI benefit amount, half of it plus other sources of income such as wages, investment earnings, or tax-exempt interest-reaches the base amount set by the IRS for your filing status.

Filing Status	Taxable Income Threshold
Single, Head of Household, Qualifying Surviving Spouse	Over $25,000
Married Filing Jointly	Over $32,000
Married Filing Separately (lived apart from spouse all year)	Over $25,000
Married Filing Separately (lived with spouse at any time in the year)	$0 (All SSDI benefits may be taxable)

If you file jointly, then your combined income, both yours and your spouse’s, determines taxability.

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Taxable

The portion of your SSDI benefits that may be taxed depends on your total income:

Filing Status	Income Range	Taxable Percentage
Single, Head of Household, Qualifying Surviving Spouse	$25,000 – $34,000	Up to 50%
Single, Head of Household, Qualifying Surviving Spouse	Over $34,000	Up to 85%
Married Filing Jointly	$32,000 – $44,000	Up to 50%
Married Filing Jointly	Over $44,000	Up to 85%

If your total income is less than the exemption, your SSDI benefits are nontaxable.

Extra Income

SSDI is designed for people who have a disability, so you’re likely to need limited incomes to be eligible. But if you have other incomes coming in from:

Dividends on investments
Tax-exempt interest
Spousal income

…in taxes on your SSDI.
This can also be good to know beforehand so you’re not blindsided when tax season arrives.

Time of Year

For 2024 tax filing, the due dates are as follows

Tax Deadline	Who It Applies To
April 15, 2025	General taxpayers in the U.S.
June 16, 2025	Americans living abroad

If you received SSDI and suspect that you may owe taxes you should speak with a professional tax agent to make sure that you are following IRS regulations.