{"id":4221,"date":"2015-03-20T07:00:02","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T12:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/?p=4221"},"modified":"2020-09-23T07:32:54","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T12:32:54","slug":"tax-help-for-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/2015\/03\/tax-help-for-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax Help for Seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tax Help for Seniors\"Tax<\/h1>\n

Count your blessings, and Uncle Sam will count them, too. It\u2019s the time of year for Americans to file income taxes, so let\u2019s look at what is necessary. Some<\/span> senior citizens don\u2019t know if they have to file taxes. One client thought that retirees were exempt from filing taxes. Not so. <\/span><\/p>\n

Quite a lot of your Social Security benefits can be taxed but <\/span>only<\/span> if you have a lot of other income such as pensions, retiremen<\/span>t accounts, investments, part-time work or other income source. Any income may be taxable. But it\u2019s not all bad news – there are some spe<\/span>cial advantages to being 65 or <\/span>older. You may even be able to utilize\u00a0tax deductions for assisted living<\/a> so be sure to check into those as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether your Social Security benefits are taxable depends on your marital status.<\/span> And it depends on the amount and source of your income. In general, if Social Security benefits were your only income for 2014, your benefits are not taxable. In this case, you probably do not need to file a federal income tax return. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is a higher s<\/span>tandard deduction for seniors, but only if you don\u2019t itemize your deductions. You will get a higher standard deduction if you or your spouse are 65 years old or more. <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the higher senior citizen standard deduction, you may also qualify for th<\/span>e Credit for the Elderly or Disabled<\/em>. But this tax credit is only helpful when you actually owe tax money to the IRS. You must file using Form 1040 or Form 1040A to receive the Credit for the Elderly or Disabled, <\/span>not<\/span><\/strong><\/em> Form 1040EZ. But as long as you are at<\/span> least 65 years old and your income from sources other than Social Security is not high, then the tax credit for the elderly or disabled can reduce your tax bill. <\/span><\/p>\n

IRS guidelines say that as a rule if you qualify for any of the following credits, then you <\/span>must<\/span> file a return to get the refund:<\/span><\/p>\n