Sign the Petition: Stop the 27% Cut to Social Security

[hfojvt]

23. I cannot even figure what the formula is

Is it taxable over $25,000 or taxable over $34.000?

How much is taxable? The smaller of A) .85 times SSB OR B) (smaller of SSB/2 or $4,500) + .85(AGI- SSB/2 - $34,000)

would seem that at most only the amount over $34,000 taxed at $4,500 + .85(SSB/2)

Now the maximum social security benefit is $2,687 per month or $32,244 per year. So the most that would be taxable is $18,203. Meaning this person ALREADY has over $14,000 in tax free income. Plus if this person is over 65 they get an extra $1,550 deduction that a younger person with the same (or lower) income does not get.

At most the taxes on that amount would be $2,730. And this for a person making over $66,000 a year.

My last paycheck of the year says that my gross pay was $17,572 for approximately 1,145 hours of work although actually I made $1,023 for vacation days, $304 for sick days, $663 for holidays and got longevity pay of $282.5 so it was only about 1,015 hours of work. But also $1,325 was taken out of my checks for FICA and $1,054 for my pension (and I put another $6,500 in my Roth IRA to reduce my income taxes to zero - it's either that or pay $600 in FIT (actually I only need about $2,000 in my Roth to get down to zero)

So anyway, a retired person making upwards of $60,000 a year seems pretty well off to me, and I don't think they need another tax shelter on top of the $14,000 which is already tax free.