The rules for income tax on Social Security payouts have long
confounded beneficiaries—and can make it harder to stretch a
dollar in retirement.  Indeed, as much as 85% of a recipient's
benefit can be taxed, depending on how much other income there
is and what the sources are. If wages, income from self-
employment, interest, dividends and other taxable income exceed
a certain threshold, part of your Social Security income will
need to be reported as well. An individual earning as little as
$25,000 from combined sources may owe taxes on up to 50% of his
or her benefit.  Here are some tips older Americans can use to
reduce or avoid the amount of taxes they might pay on their
Social Security benefits.  Convert to A Roth IRA.  One strategy
is to convert all or some of your traditional IRA into a Roth
IRA. Distributions from a traditional IRA are viewed as income
that could affect your benefit. Qualified distributions from a
Roth IRA, however, are nontaxable and won't affect benefits.
There are a few catches. Amo