Social Security Government Pension Offset

If you receive a pension from a government job but did not pay social security taxes while you had the job we ll reduce your social security spouse widow or widower benefits by two thirds of the amount of your government pension.

Social security government pension offset.

Government includes federal state and local entities. The government pension offset gpo is a social security rule that affects workers with government pensions who also receive social security spousal or survivor benefits. The rule does not affect the worker s own social security benefits if any nor their government pension nor does it reduce the benefits belonging to the spouse. A similar rule the government pension offset gpo reduces social security spousal or survivor benefits for spouses widows and widowers who also collect a non covered pension from their government jobs.

The government pension offset gpo was enacted as part of the 1977 social security amendments. Generally we won t reduce your social security benefits as a spouse widow or widower if. The government pension offset. The government pension offset allows the ssa to reduce what you get from social security in the form of spousal or survivor benefits if you also receive a pension.

This offset is known as the gpo. It was meant to keep public sector employees from receiving both a social security benefit and a pension from work where they did not pay into the social security system. This intent was to stop an indivual from double dipping. It reduces the amount of those benefits by two thirds.

Exemptions to the government pension offset. These include but are not limited to civil service pensions public employees retirement systems some teachers police and firemen women. If you are collecting social security retirement benefits and a non covered government pension you may be subject to the windfall elimination provision. Government pension offset a law that affects spouses and widows or widowers if you receive a retirement or disability pension from a federal state or local government based on your own work for which you didn t pay social security taxes we may reduce your social security spouses or widows or widowers benefits.

The government pension offset affects only your social security spousal or survivor benefit. Government pension offset gpo applies to spousal benefits when the spouse is also entitled to a pension from work not covered by social security.