How is my Social Security taxed in retirement?

Did you know your Social Security check can be taxed, and that the rules were written to catch more people every year on purpose? Up to 85% of your benefit can land in your taxable income, and the income thresholds that trigger it have not moved since the 1980s and 1990s. They’re frozen in old dollars, so inflation drags more retirees over the line each year.

How the tax actually works

The IRS runs a formula on something called provisional income: your other income, plus tax-exempt interest, plus half your Social Security. Where that number lands decides how much of your benefit is taxed: 0%, up to 50%, or up to 85%.

For 2026 the thresholds are unchanged:

• Single: provisional income under $25,000, none of your benefit is taxed. Above $34,000, up to 85% is.
• Married filing jointly: under $32,000, none is taxed. Above $44,000, up to 85% is.

Note what’s missing: any inflation adjustment. The $25,000 and $32,000 floors date to 1984. For an affluent household with portfolio income, RMDs, and a pension, you’re almost certainly in the 85% tier. That’s not a failure of planning. It’s just the math for most people with real savings.

The lever you control

You can’t change the thresholds, but you can change the income you stack on top of the benefit, and that’s where planning lives. The figure that matters is provisional income, so the goal is to keep it down in the years it counts.

A few moves that pull in the right direction:

• Roth withdrawals don’t count. Money from a Roth doesn’t enter provisional income, so spending from a Roth instead of a traditional IRA can keep more of your benefit untaxed.
• A QCD keeps RMD income off the return. Sending part of your RMD to charity through a Qualified Charitable Distribution keeps that income out of the formula entirely.
• Tax-exempt muni interest still counts here. This one surprises people. Municipal bond interest is added back into provisional income even though it’s free of regular tax, so it can push your benefit into the taxable zone anyway.

The new senior deduction

For 2025 through 2028, federal law adds a temporary bonus deduction of $6,000 per eligible person age 65 or older, on top of the standard deduction and the existing extra deduction for being 65 or older. It doesn’t change how Social Security is taxed, but it lowers taxable income for many retirees, which softens the overall bill.

It phases out as income rises, and the phase-out details depend on your filing status and how many spouses qualify.

The hidden price for couples

Here’s the trap that catches widows and widowers. The single thresholds are far lower than the joint ones, but they aren’t half. When one spouse dies, the survivor files as single the next year, on roughly the same income, and a larger share of the benefit can suddenly become taxable, often alongside a jump in the Medicare surcharge. The tax goes up exactly when the household has lost one of its two checks.

The thresholds will keep sliding more people into the tax every year by design. You can’t stop that. You can decide which accounts your retirement income comes from, and that decision is what keeps more of the check yours.