Dear Larry\=. I turned 60 this year ans applied for my husband's benefits at an early age reduced portion. SSA began paying me in sept to dec. I received a letter 1-6-22 stating no further payments due to my work. I called, they said they over paid me. Now I will get nothing all year. This doesn't seem fair. Can I do anything? Thank You in advance.
Hi. I don't know if it helps, but I can try to explain. Social Security has an earnings test that applies to anyone collecting benefits prior to their full retirement age (FRA). If you earned more than $18,960 last year, then Social Security would need to have withheld $1 of your benefits for every $2 that your earned in excess of $18,960. They could, however, pay you for any month that you earned less than $1580 no matter how much you earned for the year of 2021.
If you earned more than $18,960 and if not enough of your 2021 benefits were withheld, you would then be overpaid and you'd be expected to refund the overpaid amount to Social Security. If you don't refund the overpayment amount, then Social Security withholds future benefits to recover the overpayment.
You could file an appeal if you think the overpayment amount is wrong. Or, if the overpayment wasn't your fault and you can't afford to pay it back, you could file for waiver (i.e. forgiveness) of the overpayment. In most cases, though, overpayments are caused by people earning more than they estimated on their application for benefits. If that's what happened in your case then you likely wouldn't be considered 'without fault' in causing the overpayment.
Still, though, if you were only paid for 4 or 5 months of 2021 that wouldn't explain withholding all of your 2022 benefits unless you will also be earning more than the earnings limit this year. In 2022, the amount that you're allowed to earn without having any benefits withheld is $19,560. And, again, Social Security would need to withhold $1 of your benefits for every $2 that you earn in excess of $19,560 this year.
What I would suggest is that you call Social Security to make sure that they have the correct amount that you earned in 2021. And, if you were paid for any months in 2021 that you earned less than $1580 you'll want to notify Social Security of that fact. Also, you'll want to make sure to tell them approximately how much you'll be earning in 2022 so that they can withhold the correct amount of your benefits this year. Don't underestimate how much you'll be earning this year, though, or else you'll get overpaid again this year.
Best, Jerry
