Almost 3 million recipients of Social Security benefits are going to have to wait to see if they owe taxes this year. A tax statement the Social Security Administration (SSA) just sent them is wrong.
The erroneous document that went out to
According to an SSA fact sheet on the error, the statements were mailed earlier this month to
But, according to the SSA, a computer programming error caused Medicare Part C and/or Part D premium deduction amounts, and some garnishment deduction amounts, for 2006 to be included in the amounts reported for 2007.
So the ”Benefits for 2007” fields (boxes 3 and 5 of the SSA-1099 form) and the ”Description of Amount in Box 3” field all contained incorrect amounts for the affected people.
Corrected SSA-1099s, along with the agency’s sincerest apologies, are going in the mail today, so keep an eye on your mailbox, or your parents’ if they get Social Security benefits. These second SSA-1099 forms will have ”Corrected Notice” on the envelopes and ”Corrected Tax Information” on the form itself in red typeface.
Even better news: The programming error also has been fixed.
Tax form time: This is the time of year that postal service employees should ask for a raise. Millions of tax-related forms are in the mail or are already being delivered.
Yes, a growing number of us are getting these statements via e-mail now, but a lot of folks still are getting the paper forms.
So be on the lookout, both at your curbside and PC mailboxes, for these common forms:
- W-2: THE form for employees, showing how much wages you earned last year, as well as the amount of income tax withheld, Social Security and Medicare taxes paid, and any benefit (retirement plans, medical accounts, child care accounts, etc.) contributions.
- 1098: Interest paid on your mortgage.
- 1099-MISC: Payments for self-employment work or contracting jobs on the side.
- 1099-INT: Interest earned on bank accounts, CDs, etc.
- 1099-DIV: Earnings from investments.
- 1099-G: Government payments, such as state or local tax refunds or unemployment benefits.
This story has more on these statements and other tax forms you might receive.
Once you do get these documents, learn from the SSA’s mistake. Check out each to make sure the information is correct. If it’s not, contact the issuer and get it fixed now, while you still have plenty of time to get your taxes done.
