The End To Tax Season Is Just Around The Corner Edition
This week, on Tax Breaks, Forbes Senior Writer Kelly Phillips Erb explores the end of tax season, U.S. companies receiving a break on beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting, and changes at the IRS and the Social Security Administration. She also delves into reporting last year's bonus pay, reveals tax filing season statistics and discusses the tax implications of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) income for college athletes.
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2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Social Security Ceiling: What's the Highest Benefit You Can Receive?
High earners don't pay Social Security taxes on all of their income each year. As a result, the maximum Social Security benefit for 2025 is only $5,108 per month. Understanding the factors that influence your checks can help you squeeze more from the program. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › You may already know that the government bases your Social Security benefit on the income you've paid Social Security taxes on throughout your career. Generally speaking, the more you earn during your working years, the larger your benefit is in retirement. But that doesn't mean billionaires are raking in multimillion-dollar Social Security checks. A ceiling limits how much the wealthiest Americans receive from the program, and it's lower than you might imagine. It's still a difficult feat to reach, but you may be able to get closer if you know the factors that influence your benefits. To understand why there's a ceiling on Social Security benefits, you need to understand three key factors that determine the size of your checks. The first is the length of your work history. The Social Security Administration looks at your 35 highest-earning years when calculating your checks. Those who haven't worked that long won't receive the maximum benefit, no matter how high their earnings throughout their career, because they'll have one or more zero-income years factored into their checks. The second factor is the amount of money you pay Social Security taxes on. For most people, that's the same as their income for the year, but that's not always the case for high earners. In 2025, you only pay Social Security taxes on the first $176,100 you earn. This limit was lower in past years. The third factor is your claiming age. The government assigns everyone a full retirement age (FRA) based on their birth year. It's 67 for most workers today, but you don't have to sign up then. You can sign up as early as 62, but if you want your largest possible checks, you need to wait until 70 to apply. It's difficult for the average person to tick all three of these boxes, which is why it's rare to find a person who receives the largest possible Social Security checks. But those who pull it off take home $5,108 per month in 2025. That may seem like a lot of money to you and me, but to those who consistently exceed the ceiling on income subject to Social Security tax, it's probably quite modest. You may not be able to earn enough income to take home the largest Social Security checks, but you can still leverage your understanding of these factors discussed to lock in bigger benefits. First, whenever possible, work at least 35 years before retiring to avoid zero-income years in your benefit calculation. Working even longer could be to your advantage if you're earning more now than you were earlier in your career. Your more recent, higher-earning years will gradually push your earlier, lower-earning years out of your benefit calculation. Second, do whatever you can to increase your income today. This could involve working overtime, negotiating a raise, or finding a better-paying position elsewhere. If you're earning less than $176,100 this year, anything you can do to boost your earnings today will also help you increase your Social Security benefit in retirement. Finally, choose the best claiming age for you based on your finances and life expectancy. If you can afford to cover your expenses for a few years without Social Security and expect to live into your mid-80s or beyond, 70 might be your best option to maximize your lifetime benefit. Otherwise, an earlier claiming age might suit you better. You may have decades to go until you're eligible to claim Social Security, but it doesn't hurt to start thinking about these things early. The choices you make today could have a significant effect on your financial security in retirement. If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. One easy trick could pay you as much as $23,760 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Join Stock Advisor to learn more about these Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Social Security Ceiling: What's the Highest Benefit You Can Receive? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Millions of legal immigrants' lives upended after social security freeze
Millions of legal immigrants may be left unable to work after the US Social Security Administration quietly instituted a rule change to stop automatically issuing them social security numbers. The Enumeration Beyond Entry program is an agreement between the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, where US Citizenship and Immigration Services would provide social security with information from applicants for work authorization or naturalization. The program began in 2017 under the first Trump administration. Without any public notice, on 19 March, the program was halted, affecting millions of immigrants every year and burdening Social Security Administration offices, as those applicants will now have to visit a Social Security Administration office and apply separately to receive a social security number. Following the freeze, the Trump administration issued a memo on 15 April aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from receiving social security benefits, but provided no evidence of it being a problem. Trump and Elon Musk, billionaire former leader of the so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) have falsely claimed these programs are being used to attract unauthorized immigrants to vote for Democrats. 'Unauthorized immigrants are not eligible for Medicare or social security retirement benefits. Nor does any evidence exist that unauthorized immigrants fraudulently receive benefits in large numbers,' wrote Geoffrey Sanzenbacher, an economics professor at Boston College, in a blogpost. Lee Thacker moved to south-west Minnesota last summer with his now wife, a native of the US. After getting married, he applied for a work authorization card while his permanent residency application was being processed. When the 52-year-old from Pontypridd in Wales received his work authorization card at the end of April 2025, he began applying for jobs and received a job offer. After he failed to receive his social security number, 'I lost the job,' said Thacker. 'I needed a background check and the company doing the check required a social security number, and the company itself has a policy of not employing people without social security numbers. So I am legally entitled to work, but in practice I can't because no one will employ me without a social security number.' He noted the work authorization form, I-765, still has a checkbox on it to fill out to receive a social security number card, which he did. He paid $260 for the employment authorization card application and was expecting to receive a social security number within two weeks of receiving his work authorization card. Thacker was not informed why until he visited a Social Security Administration field office about half an hour away, where he was informed about the change. In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid $25.7bn in taxes to social security, despite not being eligible to receive the benefits. 'It's definitely affected a lot of individuals. We've tried to warn all of our clients,' said Jennifer Bade, an immigration lawyer based in Boston, Massachusetts. Bade explained the issues and difficulties immigrants face in visiting a Social Security Administration field office, including having to take time off work, language barriers, and issues and delays for immigrants who need a social security number to start a job, open a bank account, or receive a loan. 'The pausing of this program makes no sense,' added Bade. 'It's all just meant to attack immigrants, and it has no actual benefits. Pausing this program literally has no benefits.' Democrats on the House committee on oversight and government reform urged the Social Security Administration to reverse its decision to freeze the program. According to the then ranking member of the committee, the late congressman Gerald Connolly, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration personally approved the pause despite legal concerns and warnings over the effects of pausing the program. Hope Rudasill of North Carolina said her husband, whose name is being kept anonymous for fear of retaliation, recently filed for a work authorization card, but did not expect the delay in receiving a social security number, as he was told it would be issued automatically when he filed his application. 'My husband hasn't been able to start his job search because most employers require a valid social security number before even considering applications. It's also prevented him from applying for a driver's license which limits his ability to get around independently,' Rudasill told the Guardian. 'We haven't been able to open a joint bank account, which is not only inconvenient for managing finances, but also creates challenges when we go to our adjustment of status interview [an essential part of applying for lawful permanent residency] as a shared bank account is a key piece of evidence to prove we're building a life together and not having that documentation makes the process more stressful.' The rule change came as billionaire Musk pushed misinformation about immigrants and social security benefits, including touting data from the Enumeration Beyond Entry program, falsely claiming it was evidence of fraud. In fiscal year 2024, 3.24m initial employment authorization documents were approved by US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The costs of issuing a social security number through this program in the same year, according to a Social Security Administration memo, was $8 per issuance, compared with $55.80 in a field office. Those field offices are also operating with reduced staff, as the Social Security Administration sought to cut staff by at least 12%, and Doge has terminated leases for at least 47 offices at the agency. The freeze is likely to add even more pressure to staff at the agency, in addition to new phone restrictions implemented by the Trump administration, which will require individuals to make 1.93m additional trips to social security field offices annually. 'I was hoping I would be able to work within a few months of applying for permanent residency, once I got the employment authorization card,' Lee Thacker added. 'If I had known social security cards were no longer being sent out automatically, I would have made an in-person visit shortly after getting my employment authorization card. There must be many people waiting patiently expecting to receive their social security cards. If this is a permanent change local SSA offices will be receiving more in-person visits at a time when staffing numbers are being reduced.' The US Citizenship and Immigration Services did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Social Security Administration said in an email: 'The Enumeration Beyond Entry (EBE) process is currently paused for noncitizens granted work authorization (I-765) and newly naturalized US citizens (N-400) for 90 days, while the agency is evaluating its enumeration policies and procedures. SSA will continue to process EBE applications for those granted legal permanent resident status (I-485) along with all EBE applications that were filed prior to March 18, 2025.'
The Verge
13 hours ago
- The Verge
Elon Musk discovers Trump doesn't stay bought
I have been watching, with some grim amusement, Elon Musk discovering the limits of being just another political donor. While he was at DOGE, he literally could control the Treasury and DOD — he effectively had the IT reins of the entire country, and could simply gut things he hated at will. There was a price for that: it destroyed what was left of his reputation. But it was real, true power — being able to stop payments at will makes you more powerful than the president. So much for that. These days, Musk is reduced to begging his followers on X to call their senators and congressmen [sic, obviously] to vote down the Big Beautiful Bill. His nominal reason is that Donald Trump's budget plan will increase the deficit, but reports indicate that Musk is annoyed an EV credit is getting cut. That makes it harder to sell Teslas in an environment where it's already hard to sell Teslas. Also, Musk may be annoyed that he didn't get to stay past his statutory limit as an unpaid advisor and that the FAA isn't using Starlink, according to Axios. Even less powerful enemies can lead to political problems, which is why Musk doesn't get his pet boy in NASA The cracks have been showing in the MAGA-tech alliance for some time now. When Scott Bessent got Musk's IRS pick ejected in April, that was notable. (Bessent's deputy now runs the IRS.) Musk wasn't politically savvy enough to get Bessent on his side before installing his pick; an end-run like that is insulting and Musk had been making enemies. Take, for instance, Marco Rubio, who was furious when Musk destroyed USAID — that was Rubio's department and getting rid of it cut his power. Sean Duffy, the reality TV star who is for some reason running the Department of Transportation, had to intervene to stop DOGE from firing air traffic controllers while the lack of air traffic controllers remains a hot-button issue. These men should not have been especially difficult to finesse, but then Musk is known for his bull-in-a-china-shop approach. It is rare that a person in a position of power — a cabinet seat, say — willingly gives up even an inch of leverage. Making enemies of Bessent, Rubio, and Duffy was a strategic error. Even less powerful enemies can lead to political problems, which is why Musk doesn't get his pet boy in NASA now. Jared Isaacman was due to receive his final confirmation vote in the Senate when Trump abruptly withdrew his nomination for head of the aerospace agency. That was reportedly because Musk had beef with Sergio Gor, the head of the White House Presidential Personnel Office — basically the lead recruiter for government jobs. The moment Musk was no longer in the actual White House, Gor dropped the blade. Silicon Valley is still entwined with the government — Musk's cronies, including the guy who calls himself Big Balls, now have permanent jobs. Associates of Peter Thiel, Palmer Luckey, and David Sacks all have jobs in the administration; the vice president owes his entire political career to his sugar daddy Thiel. But when David Sacks gets on X to argue with Marjorie Taylor Greene about the AI provision in the budget bill, that suggests a shocking lack of leverage. Sacks was a major Republican fundraiser and is a literal advisor to the president; shouldn't he be able to pick up a phone and get what he wants? Instead, his podcast All-In is getting the exclusive bitch session from Isaacman, the NASA administrator who wasn't. Great for content, I guess, but not real power. I'm a little surprised Musk isn't threatening to primary people over the bill. Maybe that's happening in private, I don't know. But it could also reflect that Musk's money is, at times, a political liability. When Musk dropped $20 million on his preferred Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate, that candidate got blown out of the water. Musk's increasingly toxic reputation may make his money less welcome. Still, Trump isn't publicly chastising Musk, which is unusual. Maybe that's because he's waiting on a $100 million check to his political action committee, per The Wall Street Journal. Or maybe it's because Musk is particularly close to Katie and Stephen Miller, two major Trump administration power players. The basic truth of Donald Trump's entire career, starting in real estate, is that he will fuck over anyone who does a deal with him as soon as it benefits him to do so. (Just ask Michael Cohen!) You can buy him, but he won't stay bought. You have to keep an eye on him, keep managing him, as Stephen Miller knows well. Musk left the White House to tend to his own reputation, leaving his enemies behind to whisper in the president's ear. Sure, he's still got people in the administration, but it's hard to effectively rule from the shadows when you've created a shocking amount of tension with the actual presidential staff. Musk set his own companies on fire, and this is what he's gotten in return. What did you get for your money, honey? How do you get your kicks?
