# Plain Language Summary: Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act

Right now, if you receive Social Security benefits and also have other income, the government counts some of your Social Security payments as taxable income. This means you might owe federal income taxes on part of your benefits, even though you already paid into Social Security through payroll taxes during your working years. This bill would eliminate that rule entirely, making Social Security benefits completely tax-free for everyone who receives them.

Here's how this would work in practice: If you're a retiree receiving $2,000 a month in Social Security and you also have a pension or investment income, the current tax code might require you to count a portion of that $2,000 as income when you file your taxes. Under this bill, that $2,000 would be completely off-limits to the IRS—you wouldn't owe any federal income tax on it, no matter how much other income you have. This would particularly help middle-income seniors who are currently caught in this tax trap.

The bill also includes a provision to protect Social Security's finances. Since the government currently collects some tax revenue from taxing Social Security benefits, and that money goes back into the Social Security trust funds, the bill says the federal government would need to replace that lost revenue from other sources. However, the bill includes language expressing Congress's preference that this replacement money not come from raising other taxes—though it doesn't actually specify where the money would come from.

Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act

Massie, Thomas

Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act This bill repeals the inclusion of any Social Security or tier I railroad retirement benefits in gross income for income tax purposes. The bill also (1) appropriates funds to cover reductions in transfers to the Social Security and Railroad Retirement Trust Funds resulting from the enactment of this bill, and (2) expresses the sense of Congress against using tax increases to provide revenue necessary to carry out this bill.