During the 2019 tax year, Brian, a single taxpayer, received $7,400 in Social Security benefits. His adjusted gross income for the year was $14,500 (not including the Social Security benefits) and he received $30,000 in tax-exempt interest income and has no for-AGI deductions.

a. Calculate the amount of the Social Security benefits that Brian must include in his gross income for 2019.

Explanation: The detailed steps is as carefully given below ;

Enter the total amount of Social Security income      7,400.00Enter one-half of line 1.      3,700.00Enter the total of taxable income items on Form 1040 except Social Security income.    14,500.00Enter the amount of tax-exempt interest income.    30,000.00 Add lines 2, 3, and 4.    48,200.00Enter all adjustments for AGI except for student loan interest, the domestic production activities deduction, and the tuition and fees deduction.                   -  Subtract line 6 from line 5. If zero or less, stop here, none of the Social Security benefits are taxable.    48,200.00Enter $25,000 ($32,000 if married filing jointly; $0 if married filing separately and living with spouse at any time during the year).    25,000.00Subtract line 8 from line 7. If zero or less, enter –0–.    23,200.00Enter $9,000 ($12,000 if married filing jointly; $0 if married filing separately and living with spouse at any time during the year).      9,000.00Subtract line 10 from line 9. If zero or less, enter –0–.    14,200.00Enter the smaller of line 9 or line 10.      9,000.00Enter one-half of line 12      4,500.00Enter the smaller of line 2 or line 13.      3,700.00Multiply line 11 by 85% (.85). If line 11 is zero, enter –0–.    12,070.00Add lines 14 and 15.    15,770.00Multiply line 1 by 85% (.85).      6,290.00Taxable benefits. Enter the smaller of line 16 or line 17.      6,290.00

The answer is groceries.