Reporting Income and Changes for Social Security Disability

When you’re getting Social Security disability benefits, there are certain financial and legal changes you must report immediately to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Most of the changes listed in this article involve your income or resources. But if your medical condition improves, you have to report this change too.

There are several ways you can notify Social Security of these changes, including by phone, online, or in person. If you don’t tell Social Security about changes in your income or medical condition, you could face serious consequences. Here’s what you must report—and how to report it—if you’re getting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.

What Does Social Security Consider Income?

There are four kinds of income that could affect your Social Security disability payments (depending on the type of benefits you’re getting):

• Earned income. Earned income includes wages from a job, net earnings from self–employment, certain royalties, and sheltered workshop payments.
• Unearned income. Unearned income is any income you didn’t get as wages from work, including Social Security benefits, pensions, state disability payments, unemployment benefits, interest income, dividends, and cash gifts.
• In-kind income. “In-kind” income refers to housing that someone provides to you for free or for less than its fair market value.
• Deemed income. Deemed income is the portion of income from your spouse, parent, or other adult supporting you that Social Security uses to calculate your SSI benefits.

Social Security will need information on all four types of income if you’re receiving SSI benefits, but for SSDI, only your earned income matters.

Reporting Wages and Other Changes to Social Security When You’re Receiving SSDI

SSDI pays you disability benefits based on how much you earned before you became disabled. As a result, if you’re getting SSDI based on your own work record, you don’t need to report wages or work status for other people in your household. Likewise, you only have to report your earned income. Your spouse’s wages aren’t involved when you receive SSDI benefits. Unearned income and in-kind income also don’t matter for SSDI purposes.

Do You Have to Report Your Wages If You Go Back to Work?

If you begin working while collecting SSDI benefits, even if it’s working for yourself, you must report this fact to Social Security. You’ll need to report the following:

• if you start or stop working (and the dates)
• if the number of hours you work changes
• how much you earned (and any changes to your wages), and
• if you receive extra help to do your work because of your disability (extra work breaks, a job coach, or a mentor).

If you have to spend money because of your disability so you can go to work—for example, if you have to buy a wheelchair to perform your job or pay someone to drive you to work—you should report that to Social Security too. You can usually deduct these impairment-related work expenses (IRWEs) from your earned income.

If you’re trying to return to work but you're still disabled, Social Security will let you work for a trial period, and you can keep receiving benefits for up to nine months. Learn more about the SSDI trial work program.

Do You Have to Tell the SSA If You Start Collecting Other Disability Benefits?

If you receive SSDI and begin collecting other disability benefits or receive a lump-sum disability payment, you need to tell Social Security. It could affect your monthly SSDI benefits. For instance, if you’ve been injured on the job and have started receiving workers' compensation (including certain black lung benefits), your monthly SSDI payment could be reduced.

The total amount of disability benefits you receive from all sources can’t be more than 80% of your average earnings at the time you became disabled, including workers' comp, other public disability benefits, and SSDI. (20 C.F.R. § 404.408 (2026).) If the total is more than 80% of what your average earnings were, Social Security will deduct the extra amount from your SSDI payment each month—or, in some states, workers' comp will lower your payments.

What If You Receive a Pension From a Prior Job?

Social Security used to require people who received a pension based on work that didn’t require them to pay Social Security taxes (a “non-covered pension”) to report these earnings, which could then often reduce the amounts of SSDI benefits they received. After the Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025, which ended certain provisions that had reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits for non-covered pensions, you might not see your SSDI benefits reduced for receiving a non-covered pension. (42 U.S.C. §§ 402-415 (2026).)

Professions that may not pay Social Security taxes include some teachers, firefighters, and police officers in states that are covered by a state or local pension, federal employees who are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System, or work for a foreign government. If you’re not sure if your pension is from a job that didn’t pay Social Security taxes, you should contact the person in charge of your former employer's retirement plan. If your pension is from a job that paid Social Security taxes, you don’t need to report it to the SSA. (For more information, visit the agency’s dedicated webpage about the Social Security Fairness Act.)

Do You Have to Tell Social Security If Your Marital Status Changes?

If you’re getting SSDI benefits based on your own work record, a change to your marital status won’t affect your eligibility. But you should still tell Social Security if you marry or divorce, as that can affect the benefits your family members might be eligible to receive. (You can learn more in our article on disability benefits and getting married.) If you’re receiving SSDI benefits based on someone else's earnings record—for example, as a disabled adult child—and you get married or divorced, you must tell Social Security as those changes could affect your eligibility.

Reporting Wages and Other Changes for SSI

Your eligibility for SSI disability benefits is based on how much income and resources you have available to you, so you’ll be required to report any changes in your financial status to Social Security so that the agency knows whether you’re still eligible for this needs-based benefit.

When Do You Have to Report a Change in Your Living Arrangements?

Any time there’s a change in the number of people who live with you, you must report it to Social Security. Examples include:

• someone moves into or out of your house
• you start or stop living in someone else’s home
• someone you live with dies, or
• you or someone you live with has a baby who will also live with you.

You need to report this information because it affects whether you have dependents to take care of and whether you have "in-kind" income. And as with SSDI benefits, if you’re receiving SSI and you get married, divorced, separated, or reunite after a separation, you’ll need to inform Social Security.

Furthermore, if you move into or out of a nursing home, assisted living, or another institution, you should report this to Social Security, as this will affect how much SSI you’ll receive. Some states (such as California) also require you to tell Social Security if your cooking facilities change or your share of living expenses changes.

What Kind of Income Changes Do You Need to Report for SSI?

If you’re receiving income other than SSI, you must tell Social Security about any changes to your income. And if you’re married, you should let the agency know about any changes in your spouse's income. Those changes could affect the income "deemed" to you, which could raise or lower the amount of your monthly SSI benefit. (Changes in your income will generally affect your SSI payments in about two months.)

What Do You Need to Report If Your Resources or Assets Change?

In order to receive SSI, you can only have up to $2,000 in resources if you’re single and up to $3,000 in resources if you’re married. Resources include things like cash, checking and savings accounts, and stocks and bonds.

You must tell Social Security about assets that you receive and any new financial accounts that have your name on it, even if you never use the money or account. Depending on what the account is used for, you might be able to set up an account that won’t affect your SSI benefits.

Are There Deadlines for Reporting Changes?

If you’re receiving SSI benefits, you must report a change in your living or financial circumstances within 10 days after the month in which the change occurred. (You should report a change even if you’re late.) SSDI recipients don’t have a specific timeline for reporting financial changes, but are encouraged to do so as soon as possible after returning to work.

Can You Report Changes to Social Security Online?

Yes you can, but you’ll first have to create a “my Social Security” account. Once you’ve set it up, you can report your wages online under the “My Wage Report” section of your account. Social Security also offers an automated SSI telephone wage reporting system and a mobile wage reporting app. You can sign up for email or text reminders to report your monthly wages for SSI.

You don’t have to report your changes online if you don’t want to, though. If you prefer, you can report by calling Social Security’s toll-free national number at 800-772-1213 (TTY: 800-325-0778) or visiting your local Social Security field office in person.

How Does Social Security Verify Your Reporting?

Social Security and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) work together to verify your reported income and assets. For example, employers submit documentation to the IRS showing how many employees they have and what percentage of their earnings is withheld for payroll taxes (part of which contributes to SSDI). The SSA can request tax information from the IRS and cross-check the employers’ records with an employee’s reported earnings to see if they line up.

For SSI beneficiaries, Social Security can verify assets and resources by requesting and viewing bank balance data from savings or checking accounts. These programs are usually conducted with a sophisticated computer program (“query”).

What Happens if You Don't Report Changes to Social Security?

If you don’t report a change and Social Security overpays you because of it, you’ll have to pay back that money, even if you've spent it. Social Security can also stop your benefits until the overpayment is paid off. (Read more about what happens when Social Security discovers an overpayment.)

You may also face penalties for not reporting a change to Social Security. These penalties can range from $25 to $100 per month. And if the agency discovers that you purposefully provided false information, you’ll lose your benefits for six months. If it’s your second violation, you’ll lose those benefits for 12 months, and if it’s your third violation, you won’t receive benefits for 24 months.

Social Security Says I Overpaid, Do I Need a Lawyer?

If Social Security says you were overpaid or didn’t report an important change, but you disagree, you can appeal the overpayment or request a repayment plan. If you need help making your case, you might consider talking with an experienced disability lawyer. But be advised that not all disability attorneys are willing to take an overpayment dispute case. You can learn more in our article about finding a lawyer to help you fight a Social Security overpayment.