I found an informative article on taxes and Social Security.
Is Social Security income taxed?
The answer to this question depends on a beneficiary’s filing status and their total income for the year. According to the AgingCare.com article:
Determining whether a person’s benefits can be taxed involves performing some calculations, using the beneficiary’s total income for the year and the base amount that applies to their filing status category.
The article says Social Security benefits are never taxed at 100 per cent. Usually, only up to 50 percent of a person’s benefit amount will be subject to taxation. The article says:
If the calculation yielded a number greater than $34,000 ($44,000 for those married filing jointly), or if a beneficiary is married and filing separately, even though they lived with their spouse at some point during the tax year, then as much as 85 percent of their benefits may be included as income for tax purposes.
To read the full article, use this link: http://www.agingcare.com/Articles/tax-rules-social-security-benefits-170990.htm?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20-%20March%2014,%202015