PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

If you get an annuity supplement and you earned extra money from work, your monthly supplement must be cut to account for those extra earnings. The cut is based on the previous year’s excess earnings, which are 50% of your pay that is above the exempt amount, but not more than the total supplement you received that prior year. That excess is spread evenly across your supplement months for the year (normally 12 months, but fewer if you stop getting the supplement because you reach age 62). No month’s reduction can be bigger than the supplement for that month. The reductions start in the 12‑month period that begins on the first day of the seventh month after the end of the calendar year when the extra earnings happened. “Earnings” and the “exempt amount” are figured like the Social Security rules. Only pay earned while you actually had the supplement counts. Pay earned before reaching your applicable retirement age is not counted for certain retirees. People working as FAA air traffic control instructors or as air traffic controllers under the specified contract rules are not covered by these reductions. The Office must make rules for reemployed annuitants.

Title 5, §8421a

Government Organization and Employees, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Except as provided in subsection (c), the amount of the annuity supplement to which an individual is entitled under section 8421 for any month (determined without regard to subsection (c) of such section) shall be reduced by the amount of any excess earnings of such individual which are required to be charged to such supplement for such month, as determined under subsection (b).

(b)The amount of an individual’s excess earnings shall be charged to months as follows:

(1)(A)There shall be charged to each month of a year under subsection (a) an amount equal to the individual’s excess earnings (as determined under paragraph (2) with respect to such year), divided by the number of the individual’s supplement entitlement months for such year (as determined under paragraph (3)).

(B)Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the amount charged to a month under subsection (a) may not exceed the amount of the annuity supplement to which the individual is entitled under section 8421 for such month (determined without regard to subsection (c) of such section).

(2)The excess earnings based on which reductions under subsection (a) shall be made with respect to an individual in a year—

(A)shall be equal to 50 percent of so much of such individual’s earnings for the immediately preceding year as exceeds the applicable exempt amount for such preceding year; but

(B)may not exceed the total amount of the annuity supplement payments to which such individual was entitled for such preceding year under section 8421 (determined without regard to subsection (c) of such section, and without regard to this section).

(3)(A)Subject to subparagraph (B), the number of an individual’s supplement entitlement months for a year shall be 12.

(B)The number determined under subparagraph (A) shall be reduced so as not to include any month after which such individual ceases to be entitled to an annuity supplement by reason of section 8421(a)(3)(B), relating to cessation of entitlement upon attaining age 62.

(4)(A)For purposes of this section, and except as provided in subparagraph (B), the “earnings” and the “applicable exempt amount” of an individual shall be determined in a manner consistent with applicable provisions of section 203 of the Social Security Act.

(B)For purposes of this section—

(i)in determining the excess earnings of any individual, only earnings attributable to periods during which such individual was entitled to an annuity supplement under section 8421 shall be considered; and

(ii)any earnings attributable to a period before attaining the applicable retirement age under section 8412(h) shall not be considered in determining the excess earnings of an individual who retires under section 8412(d)(1) or (e), or section 8414(c).

(5)Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through (4), the reduction required by subsection (a) shall be effective with respect to the annuity supplement payable for each month in the 12-month period beginning on the first day of the seventh month after the end of the calendar year in which the excess earnings were earned.

(c)This section shall not apply to an individual described in section 8412(e) during any period in which the individual, after separating from the service as described in that section, is employed as an—

(1)air traffic control instructor, or supervisor thereof, under contract with the Federal Aviation Administration, including an instructor or supervisor working at an on-site facility (such as an airport); or

(2)air traffic controller pursuant to a contract made with the Secretary of Transportation under section 47124 of title 49.

(d)The Office shall prescribe regulations under which this section shall be applied in the case of a reemployed annuitant.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 203 of the Social Security Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(4)(A), is classified to section 403 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.

Amendments

2022—Subsec. (b)(4)(B)(ii). Pub. L. 117–225 inserted “(1)” after “section 8412(d)”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 117–328 substituted “as an—” for “as an”, designated remainder of existing provisions as par. (1), and added par. (2). 2019—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–92 substituted “as an air traffic control instructor, or supervisor thereof,” for “full-time as an air traffic control instructor” and inserted “or supervisor” after “an instructor”. 2016—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–251, § 1(1), substituted “Except as provided in subsection (c), the amount” for “The amount”. Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 114–251, § 1(2), (3), added subsec. (c) and redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d). 2000—Subsec. (b)(5). Pub. L. 106–394 added par. (5). 1986—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 99–556 redesignated subsec. (d) as (c) and struck out former subsec. (c) which read as follows: “If, after an individual ceases to be entitled to an annuity supplement under section 8421 by reason of subsection (a)(3)(B) of such section, any portion of the individual’s excess earnings remains outstanding, an amount not to exceed 25 percent of the amount otherwise payable to such individual under this chapter for each month shall be deducted from such monthly payment until the full amount of that outstanding portion has been accounted for. To the extent practicable, reductions under this subsection shall be made by a level percentage.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2022 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 117–225 effective Dec. 9, 2022, and applicable to an individual who suffers an illness or injury described in certain Code provisions on or after the date that is 2 years after Dec. 9, 2022, see section 3(f) of Pub. L. 117–225, set out as a note under section 8336 of this title.

Effective Date

of 2000 Amendment Pub. L. 106–394, § 3(b), Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1630, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply with respect to reductions required to be made in calendar years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 30, 2000].”

§8421a Reductions on Account of Earnings From Work Performed While Entitled to an Annuity Supplement

Summary

Title 5, §8421a

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata