You May be Owed Some Social Security
The Social Security Fairness Act was passed a few months ago and you may need to apply to benefits
The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025. This Act eliminates the Government Pension Offset rules and the Windfall Elimination Provision.
These two provisions prevented many taxpayers from collecting social security benefits or reduced the benefit.
Under the old rules, if you were an employee of an entity that did not participate in Social Security and were collecting (or would collect) a non-covered pension, then your social security benefits or benefits you could collect were affected.
These rules were eliminated effective January 1, 2024.
Social Security is in the process of calculating the amount of back benefits owed to you, but this only applies if you were already collecting benefits. If you were not collecting benefits, but would now be entitled to these benefits, you need to act now and contact your local Social Security office.
Many farmer’s spouses work at a school or other governmental agency that does not participate in Social Security. These spouses under the old rules may not have been entitled to benefits, but under the new rules would fully qualify.
If this applies to you, make sure to contact your local office now.