To have federal income tax withheld from your Social Security benefits, submit Form W-4V (Voluntary Withholding Request) to your local Social Security office and choose one of four flat rates: 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22% of each monthly payment.1Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4V (Rev. January 2026) Voluntary Withholding Request You can also make the same request without paper by signing in to your my Social Security account or calling the SSA at 1-800-772-1213.2Social Security Administration. Request to Withhold Taxes
How to Complete Form W-4V
The form is short. Fill in your full legal name, home address, and Social Security number at the top. Check the box identifying your payment type as Social Security benefits.
The decision that matters is Line 6. Check exactly one box for the percentage you want withheld: 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22%.1Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4V (Rev. January 2026) Voluntary Withholding Request You cannot write in a custom percentage or a specific dollar amount. Doing so invalidates the form and delays processing.
Sign and date the bottom. An unsigned W-4V won’t be processed.1Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4V (Rev. January 2026) Voluntary Withholding Request
Where to Send It
Send the completed W-4V to your local Social Security field office, not to the IRS. You can find the address using the office locator at ssa.gov. Hand-delivering the form gives you immediate confirmation of receipt; mailing works too but leaves you without a timestamp.
If you don’t already have a blank form, download it from the IRS website or request one by calling the IRS at 1-800-829-3676.3Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-4V, Voluntary Withholding Request
Two Alternatives to the Paper Form
You don’t have to use W-4V at all. The same request can be made two other ways, and the withholding outcome is identical.
Online
Sign in to your personal my Social Security account at ssa.gov, where you can start, change, or stop voluntary tax withholding directly.4Social Security Administration. How Can I Have Income Taxes Withheld From My Social Security Benefits? You can create the account during the process if you don’t have one. This route confirms the request immediately and skips the mail.
By Phone
Call the SSA at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in most time zones, and tell the representative which percentage you want.2Social Security Administration. Request to Withhold Taxes
Choosing Among the Four Rates
The right rate depends on how much of your benefit is taxable and what bracket your total income falls into. Someone with modest outside income and only a portion of benefits taxable often lands at 7% or 10%. Retirees stacking a pension, investment income, or required minimum distributions on top of Social Security typically need 12% or 22%.
Up to 85% of Social Security benefits can be taxable once provisional income (adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest plus half your benefits) crosses $34,000 single or $44,000 joint.5Congress.gov. Taxation of Social Security Benefits If your provisional income sits below $25,000 single or $32,000 joint, none of your benefits are taxable and withholding serves no purpose. Married filing separately, if you lived with your spouse at any point in the year, the threshold drops to $0.
When Withholding Starts
The SSA doesn’t commit to an exact turnaround, so the change won’t necessarily hit your next payment. As a rule, withholding begins with the payment issued the month after the SSA finishes processing your request. Requests that arrive after that month’s payments are already finalized slip to the following cycle.6Social Security Administration. Voluntary Tax Withholding (VTW)
Once it’s active, check your benefit statement to confirm the deduction is correct. At year end, the total federal tax withheld shows up in Box 6 of Form SSA-1099, which you’ll use to file your return.7Internal Revenue Service. Form SSA-1099 Social Security Benefit Statement You can download the SSA-1099 through your my Social Security account or request one from the SSA.8Social Security Administration. Get Tax Form (1099/1042S)
Changing or Stopping Your Election
Your election stays in place until you change it. It does not reset at the start of the year. To switch rates, submit a new request through any of the three channels; the new election replaces the old one.1Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4V (Rev. January 2026) Voluntary Withholding Request
To stop withholding, pick 0% online, tell the phone representative you want to stop, or check the “stop withholding” box on a new W-4V. There’s no cap on how often you can change your election, but each change needs processing time. If you’re trying to affect the current year’s totals, don’t wait until December. Give the SSA at least a month or two of runway.
Review the rate each year against your other income. New pension amounts, retirement account withdrawals, part-time earnings, or investment gains can move more of your benefits into the taxable range or push you into a higher bracket. Last year’s rate may leave you short this year.
What W-4V Does Not Cover
Form W-4V handles Social Security retirement, SSDI, and survivor benefits.9Social Security Administration. What You Need to Know When You Get Retirement or Survivors Benefits Supplemental Security Income is a separate program and isn’t federally taxable, so no withholding applies to SSI payments.10Internal Revenue Service. Social Security Income
The SSA also does not withhold state income tax from your benefits.6Social Security Administration. Voluntary Tax Withholding (VTW) Most states don’t tax Social Security, but a handful still do. If yours is one of them, handle state tax through estimated payments or by adjusting withholding from another income source.
The 22% ceiling is the other boundary. If your total tax liability outruns what 22% of your benefits can cover, the difference has to come from somewhere else, usually IRS estimated payments made quarterly using Form 1040-ES.11Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals You generally need to make estimated payments if you expect to owe $1,000 or more after withholding and refundable credits.12Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes Many retirees combine both: a flat rate withheld from Social Security, plus quarterly estimates to cover the rest.