34.1 Senior Citizens Get Certain Filing Breaks

The following special tax rules favor senior citizens:

• Higher filing thresholds. If you are single and age 65 or older on or before January 1, 2013, you do not have to file a 2012 return unless your gross income is $11,200 or over. This is $1,450 more than for younger taxpayers. If you are married and you and your spouse are both age 65 or older, a joint return does not have to be filed unless your gross income is $21,800 or over, or $20,650 or over if only one of you is age 65 or older; see the chart on page 3 for further details.
• Higher standard deduction. If you are age 65 or older on or before January 1, 2013, you receive an additional standard deduction allowance if you do not itemize deductions. If you are single you get an additional $1,450 on your 2012 return, or 1,150 if you are married or a qualifying widow(er) (13.4). Your 2012 standard deduction is $7,400 if you are single. If married filing jointly, it is $13,050 if one of you is age 65 or over, or $14,200 if both of you are (13.4).
• Tax credit if age 65 or older. This is a limited tax credit for taxpayers age 65 or older who receive little or no Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits and for individuals under age 65 who are totally disabled with low incomes (34.7). If you are single, or married but only you are eligible, and receive more than $416 each month from Social Security, you may not claim the credit. If you are married and both you and your spouse are eligible for the credit and file a joint return, you may not claim the credit if you receive more than $625 each month from Social Security.
• Social Security benefits may be exempt from tax. The taxable portion of Social Security benefits may vary from year to year because it depends on an amount called “provisional income” (34.3). If you are married and file jointly, none of your net Social Security benefits are taxable for 2012 if your provisional income is not more than a base amount of $32,000. The base amount is $25,000 if your filing status is single, head of household, qualifying widow(er), or you are married filing separately and did not live with your spouse at any time during 2012. Married persons who file separately and live together at any time during the year are not allowed any base amount; see 34.3 for computing taxable Social Security benefits.