Monday, April 26, 2010

Can I pay self employment tax on rental income?

I need to build up social security credits before retirement and want to know how I can use rental income to qualify for the self employment tax as it is usually exempt? This is the only real income I have and my husband's income is his pension.

Can I pay self employment tax on rental income?
No, rental income is not subject to SS taxes. It is not considered earned income.





When you retire, you will collect the higher SS benefit either on your account or on your husband's.





If you want to build up your own SS credits, you'll need to either go to work or start a conventional business.
Reply:Social Security benefits pay when you retire from employment. A person with only rental income is not employed. The owner of rental property can still receive that rental income as long as they own the property.





So rental income is outside of the Social Security system, and you cannot use this income to establish credits for Social Security retirement benefits.


No comments:

Post a Comment