OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:23 PM – Thursday, August 1, 2024
Former President Donald Trump announced his intention to eliminate the taxes that senior citizens pay on their Social Security checks in a Wednesday statement.
“SENIORS SHOULD NOT PAY TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY!” Trump declared on Truth Social.
Trump seemed to be alluding to the reality that certain Social Security payouts are subject to ordinary income taxation, as they have been since 1984.
“Under current law, seniors that earn less than $25,000 per year ($32,000 for married couples) of ‘combined income’ – that is adjusted gross income plus certain adjustments and half of their Social Security benefits – pay no taxes on Social Security retirement benefits. Above that amount, 50 percent of Social Security benefits are subject to income tax, with the revenue going toward the Social Security retirement trust fund. For seniors earning combined income above $34,000 per year ($44,000 for married couples), an additional 35 percent of benefits are taxable, with this revenue going toward the Medicare HI trust fund,” according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization committed to educating the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact.
The taxation on Social Security was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 in a bipartisan reform measure intended to “strengthen financial solvency of the program’s trust fund.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s announcement is not the first time that Trump has discussed his desire for tax cuts, as he previously announced his desire to remove federal taxes from earned tips. The announcement was made at a Las Vegas rally in June, after Trump said that he had a prior conversation with a waitress in Nevada.
The theme of tax cuts began during his first term in office as he was considering reducing payroll tax rates from 21% to 15%, but he ultimately opted to allow for deferrals, a decision that Trump said he may reconsider during a hypothetical second term.
The Congressional Budget Office have estimated that Social Security and Medicare trust funds will be depleted by the mid-2030’s, resulting in a 21% cut in Social Security benefits, as well as a 11% cut to Medicare Part A benefits, unless a “Congressional solution is agreed upon.”
Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, made a statement in response to Trump’s announcement.
“The most important thing we can do for seniors is to fix Social Security before the trust funds become insolvent,” she stated. “Pandering to them does nothing to avoid the across-the-board benefit cut we are currently heading towards.”
Trump’s 2024 campaign has stressed the importance of avoiding cutting “a single penny” from Medicare or Social Security.
However, Trump is going to have to grapple with budget challenges should he implement tax cuts, as the budget deficit continues to increase, which is projected to be $1.9 trillion this fiscal year.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
