The short answer: it depends on your other income

You do not automatically have to file taxes just because you receive SSDI. Whether you file depends on how much money you earned from work, how much you earned from other sources like interest or rental income, and your filing status. SSDI payments themselves are not taxable income, but the money you earned outside of SSDI might push you over the threshold where the IRS requires you to file.

The IRS sets a filing threshold—a minimum amount of income you must have before filing becomes required. That threshold changes each year and varies based on your age and filing status. If your total income from all sources (minus SSDI) falls below that threshold, you are not required to file. If it meets or exceeds the threshold, you must file a tax return.

Key Takeaways

  • SSDI payments themselves are never taxable, but other income you earn—from work, interest, or rental property—may require you to file taxes.
  • The IRS filing threshold varies by year and by your age and filing status, so you need to check the current year's threshold against your actual income.
  • If you earned any wages from work, you must file if your total income meets the threshold, even if you also receive SSDI.
  • Filing a tax return can sometimes benefit you, even when you are not required to, because you may be owed a refund or a tax credit.

How the IRS filing threshold works

The IRS publishes a filing threshold each year based on your age and filing status. For 2024, a single person under 65 must file if their gross income is $14,600 or more. A single person 65 or older must file if their gross income is $18,350 or more. These numbers increase slightly each year for inflation, so the 2025 thresholds will be different.

Your "gross income" for this purpose means all the money you earned, including wages from work, self-employment income, interest, dividends, and rental income. It does not include your SSDI payments. So if you earned $12,000 from part-time work and received $15,000 in SSDI, your gross income for tax purposes is $12,000, not $27,000.

If you are married filing jointly, the threshold is higher. If you are married filing separately, the threshold is much lower. The IRS website publishes the complete table each January, and you can also find it in the instructions to Form 1040.

When you earned money from work

If you worked and earned wages, you likely need to file a tax return. Your employer withheld federal income tax from your paychecks, and the IRS needs a return to account for that money. Even if your total income falls below the filing threshold, filing a return may get you a refund of the taxes that were withheld.

Self-employment income—money you earned from your own business or gig work—has its own rules. If your net self-employment income was $400 or more, you must file a tax return regardless of your total income, because you owe self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare tax on that income). This is true even if you already receive SSDI.

The IRS also has rules about how much you can earn while receiving SSDI without affecting your benefits. Those rules are separate from the tax filing requirement. You can earn more than the SSDI earnings limit and still not be required to file taxes. Conversely, you might be required to file taxes even though your earnings did not affect your SSDI payment.

Other income that counts toward the filing threshold

Beyond wages, several other types of income count toward the IRS filing threshold. Interest from a savings account or certificate of deposit counts. Dividends from stocks or mutual funds count. Rental income from property you own counts. Income from a pension or annuity counts. If you received any of these, add them to your wages to find your total gross income.

Some types of income do not count. Gifts do not count. Money from a loan does not count. Proceeds from selling your home at a loss do not count. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) does not count, though SSI is a different program from SSDI. And again, SSDI itself does not count.

Why you might want to file even if you are not required to

Even if your income falls below the filing threshold and you are not required to file, filing a tax return can put money in your pocket. If your employer withheld federal income tax from your paychecks, you may be owed a refund. The IRS will not send you that refund unless you file a return to claim it.

You may also be owed a tax credit. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a credit for people with low to moderate income from work. If you earned wages and your income is low enough, you could receive a credit worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars. You must file a return to claim the EITC, even if you are not required to file.

The Child Tax Credit and the Credit for Other Dependents work the same way. If you have a child or dependent and your income is below certain limits, you may be owed a credit. Filing a return is how you claim it.

How to learn about you must file

Start by finding the current year's filing threshold. The IRS publishes this on its website and in the instructions to Form 1040. Match your age and filing status to the correct threshold.

Next, add up all your income from the past year except SSDI. Include wages from a W-2, self-employment income from a Schedule C, interest from banks, dividends, rental income, and any other income the IRS counts. Do not include SSDI.

If your total is below the threshold, you are not required to file. If your total meets or exceeds the threshold, you must file. If you are unsure whether a particular type of income counts, the IRS instructions to Form 1040 list what to include.

What happens if you do not file when you should

If you were required to file and did not, the IRS may assess a penalty. The penalty is usually a percentage of the taxes you owe, though it can be waived if you have a reasonable cause for not filing. If you are owed a refund, there is no penalty for not filing, but you lose the refund if you wait too long—the IRS keeps refunds after three years.

Not filing also means you cannot claim tax credits like the EITC. If you were owed a credit, you must file within three years to claim it. After that, the credit is gone.

If you realize you should have filed in a previous year, you can still file that return now. It is never too late to file a return and claim a refund you are owed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does SSDI count as income for the IRS filing threshold?

No. SSDI payments are not counted as income when you determine whether you must file a tax return. Only income from work, interest, dividends, rental property, and similar sources count toward the filing threshold.

Can I lose my SSDI if I file taxes?

Filing a tax return does not affect your SSDI. However, earning too much money from work can reduce or stop your SSDI payment. That is a separate rule from the tax filing requirement, and it is based on your earnings, not on whether you file taxes.

What if I earned money but my employer did not send me a W-2?

You still must report that income on your tax return if it meets the filing threshold. If you earned $600 or more from self-employment, you should receive a Form 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC. If you earned less than $600 and did not receive a form, you still report it. Keep records of what you earned.

Do I need to file if I only received SSDI and no other income?

No. If SSDI was your only income, you are not required to file a tax return. SSDI is not taxable income, and there is no other income to report.

Where do I file my tax return?

You file with the IRS using Form 1040 and any schedules that explore to your situation. You can file online using IRS-approved software, by mail, or with help from a tax professional. The IRS website lists free filing options if your income is below a certain level.