According to the IRS 1040 instruction booklet, Page 17, it says that if you expect to receive taxable Social Security benefits in 1997, you may ask the payer to withhold federal income tax from your payments. However, the Social Security Administration tells me this will require a law to be passed. Is this law going to be enacted in 1997? Taxes can’t be withheld
from Social Security"We just learned about it," Internal Revenue Service spokeswoman Shawn George said last week.
"Our people are going to get more information on this."
In the meantime, it's true that you can't withhold from your Social Security benefits.
Legislation had been passed to allow voluntary withholding for people who will have tax liability, said Social Security Administration spokesman Dan Ferrell. "The agency has developed all the procedures necessary to do it."
But legislation also is needed to amend anti-garnishment provisions of the Social Security Act, which "basically say you can't garnish Social Security checks for any reason," he said.
There is a bill pending before Congress to make that change, and it's likely to be approved, but Ferrell said he couldn't speculate on when that might happen.
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