The short answer: it depends on your total income, not just SSDI
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments themselves are usually not taxed as income. However, you may have to file a federal tax return if your total income — including SSDI plus any other money you received — crosses a certain threshold. The IRS calls this the "filing threshold," and it changes each year based on your age and filing status.
The key is that SSDI is only one piece of your income picture. If you also earned wages, received interest from a bank account, got rental income, or collected other benefits, those amounts count toward whether you owe taxes. Even if SSDI itself is not taxed, the combination of SSDI plus other income might push you over the line.
For 2019 specifically, the filing thresholds were set by the IRS at the start of that tax year. The exact number depends on whether you were single, married filing jointly, or in another filing status — and whether you were 65 or older.
Key Takeaways
- SSDI payments are not taxed by the federal government, but you may still have to file a return if your other income is high enough.
- The IRS filing threshold for 2019 varied by age and filing status, ranging from roughly $12,000 to $24,000 for most people.
- You must count all income sources — wages, interest, pensions, rental income, and other benefits — when deciding whether to file.
- If you owe taxes on other income, filing a return may recover overpaid taxes or find refunds you are may have access to to.
How the IRS filing threshold works
The IRS sets a minimum income level each year. If your income is below that level, you are not required to file a federal return. If it is at or above that level, you must file. For 2019, the threshold depended on your age and how you filed.
A single person under 65 in 2019 had a filing threshold of $12,200. A single person 65 or older had a threshold of $13,850. If you were married filing jointly and both spouses were under 65, the threshold was $24,400. These numbers are the ones the IRS published for that tax year and do not change after the year ends.
To know whether you crossed the threshold, add up every dollar you received in 2019 from all sources. Include W-2 wages, 1099 income, interest, dividends, rental income, pension payments, and any other money. SSDI does not count toward this total for tax purposes, but it does count toward the threshold calculation itself — meaning you look at your total income to decide whether to file, even though SSDI is not taxed.
When SSDI and other income combine
Many people on SSDI also have other income. You might work part-time, receive a pension, have interest from savings, or get rental income. Each of these sources counts toward your filing threshold.
For example, if you received $10,000 in SSDI and $3,000 in interest from a savings account in 2019, your total income was $13,000. If you were single and under 65, your filing threshold was $12,200, so you would have had to file because $13,000 exceeds $12,200. The SSDI itself is not taxed, but the $3,000 in interest is, and the combination of both pushed you over the threshold.
If you worked and received wages, the same rule applies. Wages are counted in full toward the threshold, and you would owe income tax on those wages. SSDI does not reduce the amount of tax you owe on wages — it straightforward does not add to your tax burden itself.
The difference between filing thresholds and tax brackets
Filing a return is not the same as owing taxes. You might have to file even if you do not owe anything, and you might owe taxes even if you are below the filing threshold in some cases.
The filing threshold is the IRS rule about whether you must submit a return. Tax brackets determine how much tax you owe on the income you do have to report. These are two separate calculations. For 2019, if your only income was $13,000 in wages and you were single, you would file a return because you crossed the $12,200 threshold — but you would owe very little tax because $13,000 falls in a low tax bracket.
Some people below the filing threshold still choose to file because they overpaid taxes during the year (through paycheck withholding) and want a refund. Others file to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit or other refundable credits. Filing is not always required, but it is often worth doing.
How to find your 2019 filing threshold
The IRS publishes filing threshold tables each year on its website. For 2019, you can find these in IRS Publication 17, which covers the standard deduction and filing requirements for that tax year. The publication breaks down thresholds by filing status (single, married filing jointly, head of household, and so on) and by age.
If you were 65 or older in 2019, your threshold was higher than if you were younger. This is because the IRS allows an additional standard deduction for older taxpayers. If you were married filing jointly and only one spouse was 65 or older, the threshold was different than if both were 65 or older.
You can also contact the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040 to ask about your specific situation. Have your filing status and age ready, and the IRS can tell you whether you were required to file in 2019.
What happens if you did not file when you should have
If 2019 has passed and you did not file a return even though your income was above the threshold, you can still file now. The IRS generally does not penalize you for filing a late return if you are owed a refund. In fact, filing late to claim a refund is usually the right move because you recover money the government withheld from your paychecks or that you overpaid.
If you owed taxes in 2019 and did not file, penalties and interest may have accumulated. The sooner you file, the sooner you can address any balance owed and stop additional interest from building up. You can file a 2019 return at any time, though the IRS may have already sent you a notice if they detected unreported income.
SSDI and state taxes
Federal tax rules and state tax rules are separate. While SSDI is not taxed federally, some states do tax SSDI income or treat it differently. A few states do not have income tax at all, so SSDI recipients in those states have no state tax burden on SSDI.
If you live in a state with income tax, check your state's rules for SSDI. Some states follow the federal rule and do not tax SSDI. Others tax it under certain conditions — for example, if your total income is high enough. Your state tax return may have a different filing threshold than the federal one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to report SSDI on my tax return?
SSDI does not go on your tax return as taxable income. However, if your total income (including SSDI) is above the filing threshold for your age and status, you must file a return. The return will report your other income sources, such as wages or interest, but not the SSDI itself.
What if I only received SSDI in 2019 and no other income?
If SSDI was your only income in 2019, you did not have to file a federal return because SSDI does not count toward the filing threshold. However, if you had taxes withheld from your SSDI payments, filing a return would let you claim a refund of that overpaid tax.
How do I know what my filing threshold was in 2019?
Your 2019 filing threshold depended on your age and filing status. Single people under 65 had a threshold of $12,200; those 65 and older had $13,850. Married couples filing jointly had thresholds ranging from $24,400 to $26,200 depending on age. Check IRS Publication 17 or call 1-800-829-1040 for your exact situation.
Can I file my 2019 taxes now, even though the year has passed?
Yes, you can file a 2019 return at any time. If you are owed a refund, filing late does not result in penalties. If you owed taxes in 2019, filing now stops additional interest from building up and lets you resolve any balance with the IRS.
Does getting SSDI affect my federal tax filing for other years?
The rules for SSDI and federal taxes are the same each year: SSDI itself is not taxed, but you must file if your total income crosses the threshold. However, the threshold amount changes each year, so check the current year's threshold when you file. The rules do not change because you receive SSDI — only the dollar amounts update annually.