{"data":{"id":"us/20-cfr-404.428","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"20 CFR 404.428","heading":"Earnings in a taxable year.","body":"(a) When we apply the annual earnings test to your earnings as a beneficiary under this subpart (see § 404.415), we count all of your earnings (as defined in § 404.429) for all months of your taxable year even though you may not be entitled to benefits during all months of that year. (See § 404.430 for the rule that applies to the earnings of a beneficiary who attains full retirement age (as described in § 404.409(a))).\n(b) Your taxable year is presumed to be a calendar year until you show to our satisfaction that you have a different taxable year. If you are self-employed, your taxable year is a calendar year unless you have a different taxable year for the purposes of subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. In either case, the number of months in a taxable year is not affected by:\n(1) The date a claim for Social Security benefits is filed;\n(2) Attainment of any particular age;\n(3) Marriage or the termination of marriage; or\n(4) Adoption.\n(c) The month of death is counted as a month of the deceased beneficiary's taxable year in determining whether the beneficiary had excess earnings for the year under § 404.430. For beneficiaries who die after November 10, 1988, we use twelve as the number of months to determine whether the beneficiary had excess earnings for the year under § 404.430.\n(d) Wages, as defined in § 404.429(c), are charged as earnings for the months and year in which you rendered the services. Net earnings or net losses from self-employment count as earnings or losses in the year for which such earnings or losses are reportable for Federal income tax purposes.","path":["Title 20—Employees' Benefits","CHAPTER III—SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION","PART 404—FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY INSURANCE (1950- )","Subpart E—Deductions; Reductions; and Nonpayments of Benefits"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-20.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:24:45Z","sha256":"6e68c272423c7a6fc7ebea86025c3cb491842a1e42c7f38faac401bdac292add","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/20-cfr-404.425","next":"us/20-cfr-404.429"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}