Browsing: taxes

Q. I am having half of my Social Security benefit reduced because I have a CSRS retirement and I earned enough Social Security credits separately for a Social Security benefit because of Army Reserve service. Will the amount of my Social Security benefit be reduced because of the windfall elimination provision? Will it can count on my IRS Form 1040 as taxes paid or a deduction?

Q. My accountant, a CPA, has a question about the Form W-4P (withholding Certificate for Pension or Annuity Payments) where it states to put down the “additional amount, if any, you want withheld from each pension or annuity payment.” He is asking me to tell him how much of my monthly pension payment is not taxable. My human resources specialist has given me a federal retirement benefits estimate if I retire from the federal government March 3. My total CSRS annual net retirement annuity is estimated to be $128,412, and my monthly annuity after health insurance premiums are deducted is…

Q. I’ve been in the Mississippi National Guard since 2001 and in the military since 1993, so I’ve got a few years behind me. I was hurt on active duty and didn’t file the paperwork. Now I’m on the verge of being kicked out of the Guard and I will also lose my technician job. I’ve heard that I will be able to medically retire from the tech job if that happens. Is the retirement pay from the tech job taxable?

Q. I withdrew my CSRS for a bit of service with the Postal Service in 1990. I then was rehired by the Postal Service and have just retired. I redeposited $2,818 to make my annuity about $100 more per month. That withdrawal didn’t affect my years of service, just the annuity amount. Can I deduct that redeposit somehow from my federal tax return for this year?

Q. I am a special category employee retiring this month with 30 years of service. I will be 55 in April. My minimum retirement age is 56. I know means testing of the special retirement supplement begins when I am 56, but how, mechanically, does it work? Do I get a letter on or near my 56th birthday asking me what my earned income was during the previous year? Or do I get such a letter on or near my 57th birthday, asking the same question about the previous year (the year I turned 56)? Or does the Office of…

Q. I have worked 39 continuous years as a CSRS employee and am in the process of getting divorced from my wife of 37 years. We will be dividing the CSRS pension. My wife has sufficient Social Security quarters in the private sector that she will receive a Social Security retirement benefit based on her own record. Her lawyer and the Social Security office in Alabama say that she will incur a government pension offset because she is receiving a pension from which she didn’t pay Social Security. I think they are actually calling this a Social Security Offset. I’ve explained that this shouldn’t apply as she didn’t earn this…

Q. I worked for the federal government as a temporary employee twice: August-November, 1972 as a clerk-typist in a 90-day position. I believe I was not in the FERS plan but rather paid into Social Security. The second time was the following year:  February-March, 1973.  I am pretty certain that this was also a temporary position of six months, which I left after two months. If I am correct, and it was a temporary position, I probably was exempt from FERS and again paid into Social Security. I am now trying to add up my Social Security credits. I think…

Q. I retired in March 2012. I got a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment paid to me after I retired. I started my Social Security at that time. I have recently gotten several confusing letters from the Social Security Administration saying I owe them different sums of money for overpayment due to having too much income. They are including my buyout gross payment as regular income. Is there some official source you can give me to pass onto them that my $25,000 should not be considered in my earnings putting me over the limit for receiving benefits following my retirement. I…

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