Retiree with Social Security and a pension
Social Security, a pension, and a required minimum distribution. The heart of it is the provisional-income calculation that decides how much of the Social Security is taxable.
Taxpayer facts
Who this is and what their year looked like.
Eleanor is 76, single (widowed), and fully retired in Henderson, Nevada. 2025 was a typical retirement year.
She receives Social Security, a pension from her former school district, and took her required minimum distribution from a traditional IRA. She also earns a little bank interest. She takes the standard deduction.
- NameEleanor J. Whitfield
- Date of birth02/17/1949
- SSN501-38-7742
- Age (as of 12/31/2025)76
- Filing statusSingle (widowed)
- DependentsNone
- OccupationRetired
- Address2705 Sunridge Heights Pkwy, Apt 214, Henderson, NV 89052
- ResidencyNevada, full year (no state income tax)
- NoteAge 73+, so a required minimum distribution (RMD) applies
Source documents
Work from these the way you would a real client's paperwork. Everything is fictional.
Objectives
What a correct return should capture.
- File as Single.
- Use the Social Security Benefits Worksheet to find the taxable portion of the benefits. Figure provisional income (other income plus one-half of benefits) and compare it to the single $25,000 and $34,000 base amounts.
- Report the pension and the IRA distribution (her RMD) as fully taxable.
- Report the interest. Because it is under $1,500, Schedule B is not required.
- Take the 2025 single standard deduction, increased for being 65 or older: $15,750 + $2,000 = $17,750.
- Claim the new 2025 enhanced deduction for seniors on Schedule 1-A: up to $6,000 for a taxpayer 65 or older, reduced by 6% of modified AGI over $75,000. It goes on Form 1040, line 13b, on top of the standard deduction.
- Look up the tax from the tax tables.
- Reconcile the pension and IRA withholding to the refund or balance due.
- Note that Nevada has no state income tax, so there is no state return here.
Check your work
The answer key and the complete return, the way a real client receives it: the 1040 and its schedules, the workpapers behind every number, and the signature forms.
Stuck? Work through it with Yehuda
A one-on-one, 30-minute tutoring session on this return with Yehuda Tenenbaum, EA. Bring the spot where you got stuck and we will work through it together: how the forms connect, why a figure lands where it does, and how to check your work. $250. This is education on the practice return, not advice on your own taxes.