If you already have an IRMAA surcharge — the income-related amount added to your Part B and Part D premiums — the direct way to reduce it is form SSA-44, which asks Social Security to use your current, lower income instead of the two-year-old tax return it started from. That option is available when a life-changing event such as retirement, reduced work hours, divorce, or the death of a spouse has cut your income; without a qualifying event, this year’s surcharge stands, and reducing IRMAA becomes a matter of managing what your next tax returns show.
Revised: 7/24/26
Jason Baar
Fee-Only Medicare Advisor
NPN #2033715
It shows where Medicare’s five income lines sit in 2026, what counts toward them, and the timing moves that can keep you under.
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The long answer
In my fee-only practice, SSA-44 is the first thing I check when a new retiree brings in an IRMAA letter. Stopping work is the most common qualifying event, and the form can be filed as soon as it happens — with your retirement date and an estimate of the new year’s income — rather than waiting for the next premium notice.
If your determination rests on wrong or outdated tax data — an amended return, an IRS correction — that is also fixable: contact Social Security with the corrected documents.
For future years, the reduction levers are the familiar income ones: Roth withdrawals instead of traditional in tight years, spreading gains, charitable giving straight from an IRA. Dropping even one tier is worth having — the first tier alone runs $95.70 a month, about $1,148 a year, per the Social Security Administration.
Printed from JasonKnowsMedicare.com — “How Do I Reduce My IRMAA?”. The free IRMAA Planning Guide is available at tally.so/r/81gEEA · Questions: (850) 810-1000
This page is educational information, not personal financial, tax, or legal advice. For decisions about your own situation, talk with a qualified professional.