A key promise in President Donald Trump’s newly signed tax bill — that most Americans will no longer pay federal income taxes on their Social Security benefits — is being called into question by policy experts who say the law doesn’t actually deliver on that claim.
While the White House and Social Security Administration praised the legislation for “eliminating” taxes on Social Security income for most seniors, analysts argue that no such provision exists in the bill, The Hill reported Sunday.
“There is no provision in the budget bill that directly ‘eliminates’ or even reduces taxes on Social Security benefits,” said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, in comments to The Washington Post highlighted in The Hill report.
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Signed into law Friday, the legislation includes a $6,000 tax deduction for Americans aged 65 and older. The deduction is available to individuals earning up to $75,000 and joint filers earning up to $150,000.
But it phases out at higher incomes and disappears entirely for individuals earning over $175,000 or couples making more than $250,000.
The report further noted that the bill’s benefits appear tilted toward higher-income retirees. The deduction is temporary, set to expire in just a few years, and many low- and middle-income seniors — whose 2022 median income was about $30,000 — may see little or no impact.
“It’s a mixed bag for seniors, because some seniors will get some tax relief; the cost of that, though, is borne by the entire Social Security system,” said Alex Lawson, executive director of the advocacy group Social Security Works, in an interview with USA Today.
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“The people who benefit by definition have to be richer, and people who benefit the most are the richest people,” Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, told CBS News.