§62 —
On Social Security
Democrat
78 CENTS
What they add up to. The deduction is not an exemption: it phases out above $75,000 of income for a single filer and $150,000 for a couple, and it ends after 2028 1. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that about 24 million people will still owe tax on their benefits 2. The agency that pays them is down about 7,000 employees, to a workforce near 50,000, its smallest in decades 3.
And the number underneath all of it. The 2026 Trustees Report projects the retirement trust fund depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032, after which 78 percent of scheduled benefits would be payable; the combined funds last to the third quarter of 2034 4. The promise was not to hurt anybody on Social Security. Under current law, from 2032, the arithmetic takes 22 cents of every dollar.
Sources
- The senior deduction phases out above $75,000 ($150,000 joint) and applies for 2025 through 2028 — Internal Revenue Service ↑
- About 24 million people would still owe tax on their benefits, per the Joint Committee on Taxation — PBS NewsHour, 2 July 2025 ↑
- About 7,000 staff cut; a workforce near 50,000, the lowest in decades — Federal News Network, 10 June 2026 ↑
- OASI trust fund depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032, with 78 percent of benefits payable; combined funds to the third quarter of 2034 — National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, analysis of the 2026 Trustees Report, June 2026 ↑
Republican
NO TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY
The promise came in two parts. The tax: "Seniors should not pay tax on Social Security," posted in July 2024; last summer he said the bill delivered "no tax on Social Security" 1. The program: "One thing I said and I gave my word — we're not going to hurt anybody on Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security" 2.
There are receipts on this side. The law created an extra $6,000 deduction for each person 65 and older, for 2025 through 2028, open to people who do not itemize 3. And the agency, after cutting staff, says its phones got faster: average waits down 89 percent, from 42 minutes to under five, with more than 2,000 employees moved to the phone lines 4. A bigger deduction and a shorter hold are things a retiree can feel. What they add up to is on the other side.
Sources
- "Seniors should not pay tax on Social Security" (31 July 2024); "no tax on Social Security" (29 June 2025), rated Mostly False — PolitiFact, 30 June 2025 ↑
- "One thing I said and I gave my word — we're not going to hurt anybody on Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security" — ABC News, 27 August 2025 ↑
- An additional $6,000 deduction per person 65 or older for 2025 through 2028, phasing out above $75,000 ($150,000 joint) — Internal Revenue Service ↑
- About 7,000 staff cut, a workforce near 50,000; more than 2,000 moved to phones; average phone waits down 89 percent, from 42 minutes to under 5, per the agency — Federal News Network, 10 June 2026 ↑
“My sister-in-law turned sixty-five this year, so she's the expert in our house now. She got the new deduction, six thousand dollars — but only through 2028, and it shrinks once you're over seventy-five thousand. And the tax people in Congress say about twenty-four million people will still pay tax on their benefits anyway. Then she showed me the trustees' report. The retirement fund runs out in the last part of 2032, and after that it pays seventy-eight percent. Excuse me, I forgot my hat. The deduction ends after 2028, and the fund after 2032. Which of those two was the one he promised nobody would hurt?”— Lou
“"No tax on Social Security." What passed was a six-thousand-dollar deduction for people over sixty-five, phasing out above seventy-five grand, gone after 2028 — and about twenty-four million people still owe tax on their benefits. That's not no tax. That's a coupon. And the retirement trust fund runs dry in the last quarter of 2032, when the check drops to seventy-eight cents on the dollar. He promised not to touch it. Under current law, the arithmetic touches it for him.”
“The deduction means no tax on Social Security for everyone who wasn't paying tax on Social Security, and for the twenty-four million who still are, it's no tax on Social Security in spirit, which is the more important place to have no tax.”