Former President Donald Trump this week debuted the idea of seniors not having to pay taxes on their Social Security benefits, as he seeks to secure more voters with fewer than 100 days left before the November election.
“Seniors should not pay tax on Social Security,” the Republican presidential nominee wrote in an all-capitalized message on his Truth Social on Wednesday. That same day, he repeated that statement during a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, adding that “they won’t” pay such a tax if he is elected later this year.
“No tax on Social Security for seniors, no tax on tips,” he also wrote on Thursday evening on his social media site.
Taxes on Social Security payments date back to the early 1980s, when then-President Ronald Reagan signed a measure into law that was designed to ensure the solvency of the program’s trust fund.
According to the Social Security Administration website, some 40 percent of Americans who receive Social Security payments have to pay federal income taxes on those benefits. It notably occurs if the person has “other substantial income” on top of their monthly benefits, including wages as well as earnings from interest, dividends, self-employment, and other taxable income that has to be submitted to the IRS on their tax returns, according to the agency.
Under the current federal law, retired individuals who earn less than $25,000 per year, or $32,000 for married couples, pay no taxes on their Social Security payments.
If the amount goes higher than that, 50 percent of Social Security payments are subject to income tax under the law. The tax revenue then goes toward the Social Security retirement trust fund, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which describes itself as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization.
For seniors who earn more than $34,000 per year, or $44,000 for married couples, another 35 percent of benefits are taxable, according to the group. That revenue goes toward the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund.
It’s the first time Trump has suggested no taxes on Social Security payments, although he said earlier this year during a Nevada rally that there should be no taxes on tips as he made a pitch toward service workers in the Silver State. His comments and posts this week have provided no further details on how a plan to eliminate the Social Security tax would be implemented.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said in a July 31 statement that removing taxes on Social Security without a “replacement source” of funding could increase deficits by $1.6 trillion to $1.8 trillion through 2035. Other issues that the plan could cause include increasing Social Security’s 75-year shortfall by 25 percent, increasing the insolvency date of Social Security’s retirement trust fund by more than one year, and increasing the insolvency date of the Medicare trust fund by six years, it said.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has said that Republicans should not make proposals to cut Social Security or Medicare. He also suggested he was open to entitlement reform during a CNBC segment earlier this year, after which his campaign issued a statement clarifying his comments.
Earlier this month, the Republican Party approved its policy platform, which rules out cutting Medicare and Social Security. It also ruled out any proposed lifting of the retirement age, which had been floated by former 2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
AARP, a senior advocacy group formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, has backed prior proposals to end taxes on Social Security payments. In February, when a similar measure was passed in West Virginia’s Legislature, the organization said that putting taxes on Social Security “undermines the purpose” of the payments, adding that it was a “program that was designed to lift seniors out of poverty” and not a program “designed to fund state governments.”
Smart move by Trump. There are a lot more seniors and wage/tip earners that vote than Student Loan forgiveness people whose forgiveness is just an unconstitutional redistribution of wealth earned by others, compared to social security money THE PEOPLE have already once paid taxes on when they earned it. Even Tips are EARNED, while Biden forgiven student loans are Unconstitutionally stolen.
Especially since a LOT of those ‘students’ REFUSE To get work/can’t get work. THUS Will wind up going on welfare.
Yes !! Especially when we see our taxes are going to support illegal wars, propping up communist regimes and ungrateful Illegals.
Trump ’24 for the WIN !!
ESPECIALLY Illegal invaders!
EVERYTHING that you earn or buy is taxed may times. Think of a grain of wheat. How many times has a grain of wheat taxed from the time the farmer bought the wheat until it is made into bread and sold at a grocery store, counting every step of the way and every person involved.
1. A farmer bought the wheat seeds -taxed.
2. The farmer planted the seeds, fuel for the tractor taxed.
3. The farmer harvest the wheat, fuel for the tractor taxed.
4. The farmer sold the wheat, the farmer paid income tax.
5. The truck driver who delivered the wheat to the mill, paid fuel tax and income tax.
6. The mill paid sales tax on the wheat.
7. The mill paid sales tax and utility tax on the flour made from the wheat.
8. The truck driver who delivered the wheat to the bakery, paid fuel tax and income tax.
9. The bakery paid sales tax on the flour.
10. The bakery paid sales tax and utility tax turning the flour into bread.
11. The truck driver who delivered the bread to the grocery store, paid fuel tax and income tax.
12. The store paid sales tax on the bread and tax on the profit from selling the bread.
13. The consumer had to work and paid income tax, in order to buy the bread.
And the wheat and everything else is taxed, so that the government can give our tax dollars to 11 Million plus illegal immigrants, foreign country’s and those who will not work. 🙄 🙁 🙁 🙁
AND that’s just federal level taxes. Don’t forget State level, and in many leftist states COUNTY level taxes too!
Taxing Social Security is a disincentive for seniors to work past retirement age. Working seniors while drawing SS are also paying back into it which benefits the program. This makes a lot more sense than paying off the loans of college students who majored in Sexuality Studies.
Hmm…, May be hard to do. He also told Christian community that if they vote this time, they won’t have to worry about voting again. These are hard sayings that could be difficult to do.