--- title: The Government Is Coming After Social Security Overpayments description: The Social Security Administration says it has overpaid beneficiaries by billions. Now it's trying to collect Social Security overpayments. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 602 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-11-06T19:40:45.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T15:14:16.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News word_count: 763 canonical: https://money.com/social-security-overpayments-money-back/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Multiple hands pulling a single dollar bill and stretching it, with a social security card in the background](https://img.money.com/2023/10/News-Collect-Social-Security.jpg) The federal agency that administers Social Security benefits is making new efforts to reclaim overpayments, and it may try to claw back money if you’ve been receiving too much. About 1 million people per year received overpayment notices from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years, Kilolo Kijakazi, acting commissioner of the SSA, said in recent testimony to Congresss. The agency began a "top-to-bottom" [review of overpayment issues](https://www.youtube.com/live/labAF9A1XJ8?feature=shared&t=24535) last month, Kijakazi said. Roughly 0.5% of Social Security payments are overpayments, according to the agency. Overpayments can either be the government’s fault or the result of a mistake by the beneficiary. Either way, the result is that beneficiaries owe money back to the government. A new [*60 Minutes* report](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-security-overpayment-woes-60-minutes/) found that some overpaid Social Security recipients have been told they need to pay back tens of thousands of dollars. For example, a 73-year-old woman told the program she was notified that she owed $72,000 in overpayments because her benefits were based on incorrect salary information. It is unclear how much money the government is trying to collect in Social Security overpayments. Officials denied that the agency is trying to collect $21 billion in Social Security overpayments, as some media reports suggested. "This figure was derived from the total amount of overpayments that have occurred over the history of the programs," the SSA explained in a [statement](https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2023/#10-2023-1) last month. "Each person’s situation is unique, and the agency handles overpayments on a case-by-case basis." The news of the overpayment review could be concerning for Social Security beneficiaries who are unsure if they are being paid the correct amount — or for anyone who suspects their checks are larger than they should be. The SSA said the overpayment problem occurs "given the number of people the agency serves, the number of changes in their circumstances and the complexity of the program." The SSA collected $4.7 billion in overpaid Social Security in 2022, per an inspector general report. (The agency notes that Social Security benefits total $1.4 trillion per year.) Social Security benefits help supplement income in retirement for 70 million recipients. The annual [cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)](https://money.com/how-social-security-benefits-cola-calculated/) was 8.7% in 2023 based on high inflation, bringing benefits to about $1,700 per month on average. Another [3.2% increase in payments](https://money.com/social-security-cola-2024/) is slated for 2024. ## What happens if you were paid too much in Social Security If you've been overpaid, it's possible to get on a plan to repay the government gradually. However, according to [KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/federal-government-to-review-social-security-overpayments/), these plans are stressing the budgets of some affected beneficiaries as the agency is collecting from "poor, retired, and disabled people who have spent the money and are unable to repay it." When someone is overpaid Social Security, years could pass before the issue is detected, and by that time the mistake may have amounted to a massive sum, according to the health news publication. The government is required by law to try to recover Social Security overpayments, officials said, but recovery can be waived in some scenarios. You can file an appeal or make a request that the Social Security Administration not seek the money back. The agency also said it’s working to reduce overpayments in the future and make relief more accessible to overpaid beneficiaries seeking waivers. ## How to avoid Social Security overpayments Experts are encouraging Social Security beneficiaries to calculate how much they should be getting paid to see if it aligns with their benefits. Doing this calculation can reduce the chances of a surprise overpayment notice from the SSA. The AARP has an online tool that can help you [estimate your benefits](https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/benefits-calculator.html). You can also access your ["my Social Security" account](https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/) to check if the information the agency has on file is accurate. Benefits are partially based on the Social Security taxes you've paid in your lifetime, so it's important to make sure the earnings history is accurate. If you have a government pension, your Social Security benefits can be more complicated to calculate. According to *60 Minutes*, there's a risk of overpayment if you don't properly report your pension information to Social Security. Working disabled people should also be aware of the income limit for Social Security, which is $1,470 per month in most cases. Overpayments can be avoided by promptly notifying the SSA of changes in your employment or your income. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-overpayments-money-back/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Social Security", "item": "https://money.com/social-security/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Government Is Coming After Social Security Overpayments" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-overpayments-money-back/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/social-security-overpayments-money-back/", "name": "The Government Is Coming After Social Security Overpayments", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-11-06T19:40:45.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-overpayments-money-back/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-overpayments-money-back/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T15:14:16.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "The Government Is Coming After Social Security Overpayments", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/10/News-Collect-Social-Security.jpg", "width": 2130, "height": 1420, "caption": "News-Collect-Social-Security" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. 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