Trump: No taxes on Social Security

Thank you for your kind explanations, Alwayssa, which I have found to be very clear and useful in this discussion. I know that we don't often agree about quite a number of things, but I think that we surely do mostly agree about ways that could realistically improve Social Security!

 

Don't think so.
I checked with a payroll administrator before I posted this, they aimed me at the source I used.
Perhaps you can provide your source?

 

I raised the question of how much income tax is paid on Social Security benefits. I don't think it can be much, and would be a tax mainly on the rich since the cap on untaxed income for retirees is $25K for single filers, $44K for couples.
then I found this;
Trump’s Social Security Tax Plan Would Cost $1.5 Trillion: Analysis | The Fiscal Times

It claims Trump's plan would not only cost $1.5 TRILLION (over a decade) but would further drive Social Security and Medicare closer to failure.
While this is a snazzy headline, it does give us something to gauge how much we're really talking about here. If accurate, the answer is $1.5 BILLION a year in taxes, which is about 10% of the annual income tax collected.

 

One, she is not hiding it. Second, I she may simply use biden's tax plan with probably some modifications. And third, the DP convention has not begun yet. That is where the tax policy for the DP will come from. Meanwhile, the Republican Study Committee released its FY 2025 budget, JD Vance, Trump's VP wrote the introduction to Project 2025, which has been released to the Public. This is an every 4-year project by The Heritage Foundation since Reagan was in office and took a couple of years to write. No matter who wins the WH, if the House is controlled by the GOP, we will see the FY 2025 Budget proposal be introduced in the House at the beginning of the next Congressional term. That is a reality.

I never proposed anything that eliminates SS. If SS benefits are taxed as income, that income tax goes to the general fund, not the SS Trust Fund. Do you understand that? The main issue with taxing social security as income is the fact that the threshold has remained the same since 1986 when the TRA 86 was passed and signed by President Reagan. That means more and more seniors who have SS AND other significant income will have part, up to 85% taxed at the income tax level. But those who rely ONLY on SS will never have it taxed, and that is about half of the SS recipients. GOP plan is to put a flat amount on SS benefits, and that will hurt more middle and lower-class retired people who rely solely or significantly on their income.

All of Trump's proposals have one goal in common, to make sure the 5% and up income brackets pay as little tax as possible while the remaining 95% pay as much as possible. A regressive tax approach, especially if the tariffs and the Republican Study Committee FY 2025 Budget proposal is put into play.

 

I hate how much larger the individual income taxes and payroll taxes are than the corporate income taxes. Seems backwards to me.

 

Either you got it wrong when someone explained it to you or you got a person who didn't know what the hell they were talking about. In most cases with employers, they use a software program to calculate SS, Medicare, and Federal income tax withheld. This is especially true with large employers.

My source is the

and its subsequent regulations. Nothing in the code sections or its regulations describe what you are describing at all, at least not for employment taxes.

 

The graph is the total revenue collected by the federal government using the different categories of taxes. For individual Income taxes, the Form 1040 series is the largest group. The corporate income tax, the Form 1120 group, is the third largest. Payroll taxes include both Social Security and Medicare taxes. This is generally filed with the 941s. the rest are different taxes, penalties, interest, estate and gift taxes, excise taxes such as the gas taxes, etc.

But when it comes to taxing SS benefits, it is part of the individual income tax, the Form 1040 series. Payroll taxes are the employer side of the equation and to some extent Self Employment taxes, which are both the employer and the employee side of either net profit on a Schedule C or pro rata share of net profit from a partnership to a partner.

Furthermore, trump's plan is not with the categories of the income tax per se. It will cost the government and cause an increase in debt, which means the government "borrows" from the SS trust fund to pay for the things that the GOP wants on the general fund side. This will include any and all changes based on the FY 2025 budget that the Republican Study Committee has proposed. And yes, it will bring SS Trust Fund into insolvency faster than what is currently ahead if we do nothing .

 

Well, there are about 165 MILLION American taxpayers and less than 330,000 corporations with at least 10 employees.

Does that alter your thinking at all?

 

Not in light of how high my taxes are.

 

Although it's reality if the GOP is in charge of the House that they will introduce a budget, it's not reality that they will introduce the Republican Study Committee budget. That's you. You probably think that the first priority of the GOP House will be to put all women in Handmaid's Tale outfits and have them report to their commander.

Anyway what I'm getting from this is that you oppose Trump's proposal to make Social Security benefits tax free. Well OK then. As long as we're clear.

 

I have no idea how Seniors can afford groceries alone during this mass inflation much less rent if they are solely reliant on Social Security under the current administration.

 

AOSI Trust Fund Financial Operations In 2023

INCOME

a. Payroll tax contributions; $1.054 Trillion
b. Interest; $63 billion
c. Taxation of benefits; $49.8 billion

Total income; $1.167 Trillion

Total expenses; $1.237 Trillion

Net change in assets reserve; Minus $70.4 billion

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2024/tr2024.pdf

COST OF TRUMP’s NO-TAXES ON SS; $50 billion

$50 Billion!!!!!!!!

 

80% of the GOP in the House signed off on that proposal including the current GOP chairs of the House Ways and Means and Budget committees. The GOP has done this every time the GOP controlled both the House and the WH and nearly whenever the GOP controls the House.

When you look at the no taxes for tips. it does not really help most service jobs. they don't pay that much in taxes, if any. A majority of them do not pay ANY income tax, even with tip income. And what tip proposal may do is those hedge fund managers develop a tax tip scheme to pay themselves tips and thus not pay any income taxes. SS is the same. Over half of the seniors do not pay any income tax because they are not required to file. That is their only source of income. The rest generally do pay and I proposed to rectify that quirk in the law.

Yeah, I oppose Trump's tax policies whether it is no taxes on tips, SS, a 10% tarriff rate on all imports, his broad-based tax cuts designed to increase that wealth gap significantly, etc. These are reckless, ideological, smoke and mirror tax policies. And that FY 2025 Budget will do more harm than Project 2025 will, financially speaking. I have not analyzed Biden's FY 2025 budget, but Harris has not provided her taxation policies. That will come with the DP platform. Then I will comment on it.

 

Why yes, taxes are high. I once totaled up all my taxes paid for a year. You know, Federal, State, sales, gas, property ..... all of it.
It was almost half of my income. And I wasn't including Social Security and Medicare.

But now that I'm retired, I pay very little tax at all. No income tax. None.

The thing is, to reduce taxes we first need to reduce spending.
$35 TRILLION and counting is an outrage.
U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time (usdebtclock.org)

If I was President I'd start with at least a 25% across the board cut in federal budgets.
The only exception would be Social Security and Medicare BENEFITS.
Social Security and Medicare ADMINISTRATIVE costs would take their cut along with everyone else.

Yes, everyone would scream and point to their sacred Ox.
Tough.
I suspect a lot of Federal programs would get pushed to states, and that would be fine.
I have a much easier time getting to my State representatives than I do the Feds.

 

A little early to celebrate. I don't count Truth Social or any media as the vehicle for posting official policies. That goes for Rights and Lefts. Is it his belief that he's lost the youth vote and now targeting seniors?

 

I'm not often surprised, but I have to say, your idea to oppose the tax on tips because it will be used by hedge fund managers really took me by surprise.

But I get it, you oppose ALL Trump policies. Breaking news. There was never any doubt of that. But I admit you do sometimes have to stretch the bounds of credulity to provide an actual policy reason. Hedge Fund managers? You should simply say you are anti-Orange and leave it at that.

 

It would be nice, but it's a pipe dream. I could see a reduction in taxes, but that at best.

 

This is funny, and pathetic. The taxpayers of the United States blow more than double that amount every year on the SNAP ("food stamps") welfare program!

I've never met a Democrat yet who is alarmed by how much money we lavish on welfare handouts (traded for votes), but they and Republicans have been willing to completely ignore the glaring INJUSTICE of double-taxing EARNED Social Security benefits for retired persons. That's the "pathetic" part....

 

As if you guy, Biden, isn't with his student loan bailouts.

 

I’m glad we agree. They’re doing the same thing.

 

You DO understand that the revenue from taxing SS goes into the general revenue fund and is spent to pay for everything else INCLUDING the projected shortfalls to SS funding? It's REVENUE.

 

For the record, I don't agree with Trump's stand on tips either.

Since I am either accepting a salary from the RNC nor a Republican operative, I can think independently.

 

So just ignore it and it will all just magically resolve itself? Republicans have always been in favor of REFORMING whatever system we have and making it MORE secure and pay MORE in benefits. SS cannot continue to exist as it exist today PERIOD why would you support the Dems if they don't want to do ANYTHING but keep it exactly as it is today?

 

I've never met a Democrat yet who is alarmed by how much money we lavish on welfare handouts (traded for votes)
It's a safe bet you haven't met too many Democrats.

 

Good idea. The money contributed to social security is taken as a tax in the first place. It's supposed to be invested to provide for your retirement..... Instead, it's loaned to the federal government to burn through and run up the national debt- which they never make a payment on. The interest the government pays- varies some, but effective rate was 2.3% in 2023, less than inflation. That makes it virtually an interest free loan...
And then getting taxed for your allowing them to use your money.

And I can beat that interest rate anywhere. Now add to that the fact that if you die at 62 before you are eligible to draw social security- your family gets NOTHING. The contributions you and your employer have made over 40+ years, equal to 12+% of your life earnings... go to the government. I'd call that a tax. If you are single and die fairly early, say 70, the government keeps the rest.

There are many built-in terms to social security which allows the government advantage. Enough is enough.... No tax on social security

The government is addicted- and the drug is OPM, spending Other People's Money. They can never get enough of it.