Q & A
My husband and I have owned and operated a business together for many years, but my Social Security statement does not show any earnings for me. We file joint income tax returns every year. What happened to my share of our earnings?
Answer: If you and your husband own and operate a business together and you share in the profits and losses, you may be entitled to receive Social Security credits as a partner. This may be true even if you and your husband have no formal partnership agreement. To receive credit for your share of the business income, you must file a separate self-employment return (Schedule SE) even though you and your husband file a joint income tax return. If you do not file a separate Schedule SE, all the earnings from the business will be reported under your husband’s Social Security number. In that case, your Social Security record will not show your earnings and you may not get credit for them.
If you have not filed Schedule SE for yourself for past years, you may be able to file corrected tax returns for past years. You should contact the Internal Revenue Service for more information on this, or any other tax-related questions. This is a good reason why people should get into the habit of checking their Social Security earnings record at least every three years. If you are not receiving credit for all of your earnings, you want to learn about it as soon as possible so that you can correct it while you still have access to important records.
The best way to check your earnings history is by creating a “my Social Security” account atwww.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.
Source: mySanAntonio.com - January 19, 2014
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