Tax season is officially upon us and April 15^th will be here sooner than you know.  And many people want to know if their Social Security Disability Benefits are taxable.  I am not a tax professional or a tax attorney.  But I am a Social Security attorney.  The answer is that it depends.  It depends on how much you received in benefits and other income.  It depends on how you file your taxes (single/married filing jointly/married filing separate).A tax professional will be able to tell you what is best for your specific situation.  But here is a breakdown of how the taxability of your benefits is determined.

If you are receiving Social Security benefits, you will receive a 1099 form from SSA which outlines the benefits you received.  To determine whether or not those benefits are taxable, you will take 50% of the benefit amount and add to it any: taxable/pensions/wages/interest/dividends/or other taxable income.  Compare this new figure to the “base value”.  The base value is $32,000 for someone married filing jointly ($25,000 if filing single).   If your amount is less than the base value, then you owe nothing in taxes.  However, if your amount is higher than the base value then your Social Security benefits are taxable.  There is a worksheet for you to complete to determine the amount of tax that you will owe on your benefits.

While many cases are still being sent to other hearing offices as well as the National Hearing Center, it appears that some Toledo cases filed less than a year ago are now being scheduled for hearing. Hopefully this progress will continue so that people in the Toledo area including Lima, Findlay, and Sandusky will have less waiting time before their cases are heard by Federal Administrative Law Judges.

It would appear that in some cases, hearing dates are now coming in for claimants who requested a hearing 11 months prior.

(1) Drug and/or alcohol addicts get benefits, why don’t I? As of 1996, it is not possible to receive social security disability benefits based solely on addiction. However, if someone is an active user, determination of their eligibility for benefits will depend on whether their use is “material” to their conditions.  In other words, if a person’s drug or alcohol abuse is deemed to have caused or worsened their condition(s), their case will likely not win.

(2) My doctor said I was disabled and cannot work, so why did I get denied? Your doctor’s opinion on your situation is certainly a piece of your disability application.  However, the Social Security Administration must determine independently whether you meet their definition of “disabled.”  Sometimes a doctor believes a person is not able to work, but SSA disagrees.

(3) Everyone gets denied the first time.  On average, about sixty-five to seventy percent of initial applications are denied. In states, like Ohio, that allow for a Request for Reconsideration, the denial rate is about eighty-five percent at that level.  However, at the hearing level, success rates average around sixty-two percent.

(4) My friend, neighbor, relative, etc. was approved, but there is nothing wrong with them.  A large number of recipients have severe conditions that others are unable to see or they do not tell others about.  It is likely that they, too, had to fight or their benefits. Therefore, focus your efforts on your claim and what you can do to be successful on appeal.

(5) To appeal a denial, I just need to file a new application.  A new application will most likely be denied for the same reason as the last. Historically, and statistically, most claimants are awarded only after being heard by an administrative law judge. A claim will never get that far in the process if you keep filing new applications

(6) I need to file a new application every time I am diagnosed with an additional condition. Once you have filed an application, you should let that application work its way through the application and appeals process. At each step, you are given the opportunity to inform SSA of any worsening or new conditions, making multiple applications unnecessary.

(7) I don’t need an attorney to help me with my claim. You have the right to be represented by an attorney. Statistics show that attorney representation throughout the disability process, and particularly at the hearing level, results in a higher success rate for claimants seeking disability entitlement. Our firm has been representing claimants at all levels in the disability process for over 40 years and stands ready to serve your needs at any appeal level. We work effectively and efficiently to secure the benefits to which you are entitled in an increasingly difficult and delayed system.

As part of their cost savings measures, the Social Security Administration has closed all temporary remote hearing sites.  For us, locally, that affects the Lima area.  Lima, Ohio used to have a temporary remote site where Administrative Law Judges would come in and conduct hearings so that Claimants would not have to travel long distances to get their hearing. 

I have already seen the effects of this for my clients, having to secure transportation from Lima up to Toledo (a distance of over 70 miles).  It is usually a very strenuous undertaking.  The thinking from SSA seems to be to convert some of those temporary remote sites to video sites.  This would allow Judges to conduct the hearings remotely while not requiring Claimants to drive great distances. 

That seems to be the plan for the Lima office but that transition takes time.  In the meantime, you may be eligible for a travel reimbursement from SSA for your travel to your hearing.  I will keep you updated on this as information is released.  If you have questions, please let me know. 

Election Day is upon us and I urge you to vote on November 8th or early vote and to vote NO on Issue 2. If you would like to vote early you may do so this week at your local Board of Elections: We Are Ohio – Action.

Issue 2 is the referendum on Senate Bill 5 passed by the Ohio General Assembly. The referendum resulted from a huge grass roots effort to have the Bill passed on by the voters of Ohio before becoming law. On its face, Senate Bill 5 drastically reduced the rights of public employees including firefighters, police and teachers to bargain about the terms and conditions of their employment. Even the right to bargain over non-economic issues such as classroom size for teachers and protection equipment for firefighters was gutted by the bill.

It is critical that we vote on Election Day. While the most recent polling shows we are gaining momentum ( 25-point lead for Issue 2 opponents is huge, but off-year referendums can be unpredictable, says elections expert | cleveland.com) the key will be turnout. Every vote will be important!

Let’s send a clear message to the legislature and the governor. Please join me in supporting working class families and the middle class in Ohio and vote No on Issue Two.

Parents of high school students turning 18 who receive Social Security benefits must be sure to check in with their local Social Security office to make sure the benefits continue beyond age 18 provided their recipient child is still in school. This information must be provided to the Social Security Administration. Otherwise, monthly Social Security benefits automatically stop when a student turns 18. In other words to receive benefits after 18, a student must continue in high school through graduation. Social Security does not stop benefits before the month the student turns 19 or the first month of which he or she is not a full time high school student, whichever is earlier.

The Social Security Administration announced this week that it is doing something that it hasn’t done since 2009 – give it’s recipients a cost of living adjustment. Social Security really does not have much choice on whether or not to increase benefits. The system as it is set up is based on the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers and is monitored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The adjustment will be an extra 3.6% per beneficiary. The new wages will take effect January 1, 2012, for individuals receiving retirement and disability insurance benefits. Those receiving Supplemental Security Income will show changes starting December 30, 2011.

These increases will also mean some additional increases for Social Security. The maximum amount of taxable earnings for Social Security will increase by $3,300 to $110,100. Additionally, the amount of money needed to earn 1 quarter of coverage has gone up $10 to $1,130 (so to get all 4 of your quarters for 2012 and beyond you will need wages of at least $4,520). The level of work to be considered Substantial Gainful Activity has gone up to $1,010/month.

What about SSI payments? Those will go up to $698/month. But what isn’t going up are the income and resource requirements for SSI. For an individual they remain at $2,000 and $3,000 for a couple.  Please let me know if you have any questions about the possible increase in your benefits.

The federal government has concluded that electronic payments are not simply the best way to receive Government money; rather, they will soon be the only way.  The U.S. Department of the Treasury has a new rule phasing out paper checks for Federal benefits and nontax payments by March 1, 2013.  Moreover, effective May 1, 2011, all new recipients of Federal benefits including those filing for Supplemental Security Income and/or Disability Insurance Benefits must receive their payments electronically unless they meet one of the very limited expectations.  It is thought that electronic payments are safer, easier, more reliable, less costly and above all green (good for the environment). If you or anyone you know is still receiving checks in the mail, they should visit their local Social Security office or go to www.godirect.org to sign up for direct deposit or Direct Express.

Recently, the 8^th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the federal government’s interpretation of an Iowa law, written before technology was available to allow genetic material to be preserved. This interpretation has led the court to conclude that a child did not qualify for benefits.  The eight year old girl, born two years after her father died, and conceived through preserved genetic material (sperm bank), was not entitled to Social Security benefits.  This decision reversed a lower court’s decision in this case that may now be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Did you ever wonder what happened to your Social Security benefits if you were to leave the country?  If you are receiving benefits and you’re not outside of the country for over 30 days, the answer is nothing.  But if you are making a more permanent move, you will need to alert Social Security so that they know where to send your payment.  Thankfully, if you are a United States citizen you will remain entitled to your full benefits as long as you remain disabled regardless of where you live.  However, if you are living in Cuba or North Korea your benefits will be withheld from you.  Once you leave these countries, all of your withheld money will be sent to you.  There are also some countries that Social Security will generally not send payments to, but that you can request an exemption.  To qualify for an exception you will need to agree to certain requirements, one of which is agreeing to go to the Embassy each month to pick up your disability check.

If you are not a Citizen of the United States, you may still be eligible to receive your benefits if you leave the country.  The decision of whether you can continue to receive benefits or not will be based on which country you are a citizen of and which country you are living in.  If your benefits stop because you left the country for over 30 days and you were not eligible to receive ongoing benefits in the country you were in, your benefits can start again once you are back in the United States for 30 days.  So if you are receiving, or you have filed for disability, and you are planning a move outside of the U.S. please make sure you check with Social Security so that there is no hold-up of your money.