Trump pitches repealing tax on Social Security benefits [View all]

Source: Roll Call

Posted July 31, 2024 at 3:47pm, Updated at 5:46pm


Social Security payments would be exempt from taxes under former President Donald Trump’s latest campaign trail tax cut proposal, as he seeks to secure key voters in an increasingly competitive race. The cost of fully exempting Social Security benefits from taxes could top $1.6 trillion over a decade, according to the Tax Foundation, a right-leaning think tank. The policy has some supporters on both sides of the aisle in Congress, but so far legislative proposals have failed to pick up momentum.

“SENIORS SHOULD NOT PAY TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY!” Trump wrote Wednesday on his social media website, Truth Social.

The proposal, which was absent from the 2024 GOP platform released earlier this month, arrives on the heels of Trump’s promise to exempt tip income from taxes as well. Trump first floated his tip tax idea in Nevada, home to a large number of service industry workers and a key swing state in November.

Seniors typically make up a large share of voters, and more of them vote than other age categories. In the 2020 elections, seniors accounted for more than a quarter of all voters, and three-quarters of them actually voted, compared with just over half of 18- to 24-year-olds, for example, according to census data compiled by KFF. And seniors are well-represented in swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida and Arizona.

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2024/07/31/trump-pitches-repealing-tax-on-social-security-benefits/