Personal Finance

Trump plan to end taxes on Social Security benefits would help high earners

Published

1 month ago

February 18, 2025

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign event at Harrah’s Cherokee Center on August 14, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina.

Grant Baldwin | Getty Images

On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump touted a plan to eliminate income taxes on Social Security benefits.

Now in the White House, Trump administration officials told CNBC.com last week that the president “doubles down” on that promise.

A bill to eliminate those levies — the Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act — was recently reintroduced in the House.

Yet, nixing taxes on Social Security benefits may reduce U.S. government revenues by $1.5 trillion over 10 years and increase the federal debt by 7% by 2054, according to a new analysis by the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a nonpartisan, research-based initiative at the University of Pennsylvania.

For some high-income households, the policy change may result in gains of up to $100,000 over their lifetimes, the research also found. Yet, individuals under age 30 — and particularly people who have not yet been born — may face the largest losses as the federal debt increases and incentives to work and save for retirement decline.

For beneficiaries who have paid into the program for their entire working lives, there is a sense that their benefits should not be taxed, said Kent Smetters, professor of business economics and public policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

How Social Security benefits are taxed

When Social Security reform was passed by Congress in 1983, benefits became subject to taxes for the first time. Then in 1993, lawmakers added a second taxation tier.

Today, beneficiaries who have what is known as “combined income” below $25,000 if they file taxes individually — or $32,000 if they are married and file jointly — generally pay no taxes on their Social Security benefits, the Penn Wharton Budget Model notes.

Combined income is the sum of adjusted gross income, non-taxable interest and half of Social Security benefits.

Individual beneficiaries may pay taxes on up to 50% of their benefits on combined income between $25,000 and $34,000, or for married couples with between $32,000 and $44,000.

Up to 85% of the benefits would be subject to taxation if they have more than $34,000 in combined income; for married couples that applies if their combined income is more than $44,000.

Those thresholds are not adjusted for inflation, which means more people over time have become subject to taxes on their Social Security benefits.

How taxes on benefits may be eliminated

Any changes to Social Security would require a bipartisan consensus from both the House and the Senate.

Both Congressional chambers overwhelmingly recently voted to push through the Social Security Fairness Act, a new law that ends benefit reductions for individuals who also receive pensions from work that did not include payment of Social Security payroll taxes.

That change is estimated to cost almost $200 billion over 10 years and move the Social Security Trust Fund insolvency six months closer, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Before the change, Social Security’s trustees projected the program’s combined funds may run out in 2035, at which point 83% of retirement, disability and other benefits will be payable.

Eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits would be more expensive — reducing revenues by $1.5 trillion over 10 years — according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, provided the policy change is implemented in 2025. Social Security’s trust fund depletion date would move two years closer, the analysis found.

Fiserv CEO on the nomination to Social Security Commisioner role

Because Congressional lawmakers are already dealing with a “really alarming budget situation,” there will be some “pretty strict limits on the tax cuts that would be allowed,” said William McBride, chief economist at the Tax Foundation.

In particular, if Republican efforts to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are successful, that will cost about $4 trillion, he said. That tax package, which was originally passed in 2017, excludes Social Security.

That doesn’t leave much room for exempting Social Security income from taxes or many of the other “more expensive” ideas that Trump mentioned on the campaign trail, McBride said.

Importantly, changes to Social Security cannot be enacted through the reconciliation process, which may be used to fast-track other budget and tax measures.

Future generations pick up the bill

If taxes on Social Security benefits are eliminated, those at the top of the household income distribution would see the largest tax reductions, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model. That would range from annual gains of $1,625 to $2,450 in 2026, and it would increase to $4,075 to $5,080 by 2054.

Lower-income earners would see much smaller gains, with those in the second and third quartiles receiving a bump of between $15 and $340 in 2026 and between $275 and $1,730 in 2054, Wharton’s analysis finds.

While all future generations would be worse off, the pinch would be more pronounced for those born further in the future, according to the analysis.

To be sure, another proposal in Congress has likewise called for eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits while also requiring high earners to pay more taxes into the program to help mitigate the benefit increases.

However, the concern with those changes is that while older people would see higher benefits, it would put financial pressure on younger generations, Smetters said.

Economists often refer to this as implicit debt, where an intergenerational imbalance causes future generations to be saddled with higher costs.

“Who pays for that benefit is actually younger people,” Smetters said. “They now pay higher taxes to pay for that.”

Personal Finance

Disability advocates sue Social Security and DOGE to stop service cuts

Published

18 hours ago

April 3, 2025

Business Finance News

A Social Security Administration (SSA) office in Washington, DC, March 26, 2025.

Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images

A group of disability advocates filed a federal lawsuit against the Social Security Administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency on Wednesday aimed at stopping cuts to the agency’s services.

Recent changes at the Social Security Administration under DOGE — including staff reductions, the elimination of certain offices and new requirements to seek in-person services — have made it more difficult for individuals with disabilities and older adults to access benefits, the lawsuit argues.

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The plaintiffs include the National Federation of the Blind, the American Association of People with Disabilities, Deaf Equality, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the Massachusetts Senior Action Council and individual beneficiaries.

“The defendants’ actions are an unprecedented and unconstitutional assault on Social Security benefits, concealed beneath the hollow pretense of bureaucratic ‘reform,'” the complaint states.

In nine weeks, the new administration has “upended” the agency with “sweeping and destabilizing policy changes,” the plaintiffs claim, that have shifted agency functions to local offices while slashing telephone services.

“The result is a systematic dismantling of SSA’s core functions, leaving millions of beneficiaries without the essential benefits they are legally entitled to,” the lawsuit complaint states.

The “mass restructuring” of the agency is unlawful and violates the Rehabilitation Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, the lawsuit argues. The changes also violate multiple constitutional provisions, including the First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances, according to the plaintiffs.

With 1.1 million disability claims pending, the recent actions could also be life threatening to individuals who are dying or going bankrupt while waiting for decisions, they allege.

The Social Security Administration did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

“President Trump has made it clear he is committed to making the federal government more efficient,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in an email statement. “He has the authority to manage agency restructuring and workforce reductions, and the administration’s actions are fully compliant with the law.”

Lawsuit alleges reform is ‘administrative vandalism’

People hold signs during a protest against cuts made by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to the Social Security Administration, in White Plains, New York, U.S., March 22, 2025.

Nathan Layne | Reuters

The Social Security Administration sends monthly checks to around 73 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries.

DOGE, which is not an official government entity, has been tasked with cutting “waste, fraud and abuse” within the federal government. President Donald Trump issued an executive order creating DOGE on Jan. 20, the same day he was inaugurated.

Since then, the Social Security Administration has cut 7,000 employee positions and closed the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity and the Office of Transformation. The Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity handled the agency’s equal employment opportunity and civil rights programs. The Office of Transformation was responsible for coordinating customer service-related initiatives like adding the ability to use digital signatures and electronic documents.

The Social Security Administration has also changed its identity proofing policies for claiming benefits and changing direct deposit information that is expected to require more individuals to visit the agency’s offices in person.

The agency has updated its policy, allowing individuals applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, or Supplemental Security Income who cannot use a personal my Social Security account to complete their claim entirely over the telephone, starting April 14.

The reforms amount to the dismantling of “core functions of SSA, abandoning millions of Americans to poverty and indignity,” according to the plaintiffs’ complaint.

“What the defendants frame as ‘reform’ is, in truth, administrative vandalism,” the lawsuit states.

Beneficiaries face long waits, overpayment issues

The plaintiffs include seven individuals whose experiences, including long customer service waits and, in some cases, demands to repay large sums to the Social Security Administration, are detailed in the complaint.

One plaintiff, Treva Olivero, who has been legally blind since birth, was informed in March 2024 that she had been overpaid Social Security disability insurance benefits for five or six years, prompting the agency to demand she repay more than $100,000, according to the complaint.

Olivero’s Medicaid coverage was also terminated soon after, which left her without income and health coverage. She has since been in an “ongoing struggle” to have her disability benefits reinstated, while also facing almost $80,000 in medical debt, according to the complaint.

Another plaintiff, Merry Schoch, who received Social Security disability insurance for many years, returned to work to help pay for large medical bills after she was hit by a waste management truck in 2022. She reported her income to the Social Security Administration, and the agency made no changes to her benefit payments, according to the complaint.

Two years later, Schoch stopped working and reported her unemployment to the Social Security Administration. In August 2024, the agency then terminated her benefits and informed Schoch that she owed $30,000 for the disability benefit payments she received while working full time, according to the complaint.

Last September, Schoch was informed she could reapply for benefits. However, she has since struggled to get in touch with the agency over the phone, online and in person.

Both Olivero and Schoch are members of the National Federation of the Blind, which is also a plaintiff.

The plaintiffs want the court to reverse the Social Security Administration’s recent reforms, including staff reductions, closures of certain offices and policies requiring in-person appointments.

Personal Finance

Amid trade turmoil, ‘you do not want to time the market’

Published

22 hours ago

April 3, 2025

Business Finance News

Pres. Trump unveils sweeping tariffs: Here's what to know

As President Donald Trump rolls out sweeping new tariffs on goods imported into the United States, Americans are growing increasingly pessimistic about their financial fate.

Consumers worry that the duties will cause inflation to flare up again, while investors fear that higher prices will mean lower profits and more pain for the battered stock market.

As of Thursday morning, futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 1,200 points, or 2.8%. S&P 500 futures sank 3.4%, and Nasdaq-100 futures lost 4%.

But sharp drops — or sudden spikes — in the market are to be expected, according to Jean Chatzky, CEO of HerMoney.com and host of the podcast HerMoney with Jean Chatzky.

“With these volatile markets, you do not want to time the market,” she said of the old adage. “Timing the market doesn’t work — it’s time in the market.”

Trade tensions, inflation and concerns about a possible recession have undermined consumer confidence across the board, several studies show.

Still, it’s normal for most Americans to feel unnerved during heightened volatility, Chatzky said.

“There’s very little doubt that consumers are feeling nervous, maybe more nervous than we’ve felt in quite some time,” she said.

Committing to setting money aside in a high-yield savings account, whether by scaling back on dining out or rideshare expenses, will help regain some financial control, Chatzky said.

Top-yielding online savings accounts currently pay 4.4%, on average, well beyond the savings account rates at some of the largest retail banks, which average just 0.41%.

“Taking action is the best way to feel more resilient,” she said.

It’s understandable why some may be hesitant to continue investing, however, when you are investing for the long term, a down market is an opportunity for dollar-cost averaging, which helps smooth out price fluctuations in the market, Chatzky said.

This is also a good time to check your investments to make sure you are still allocated properly and rebalance as needed, so you are not taking on more risk that you are comfortable with, she added.

Timing the market is a losing bet

Talk yourself down from making any sudden financial moves, Chatzky advised.

Trying to time the market is almost always a bad idea, other financial experts also say. That’s because it’s impossible to know when good and bad days will happen.

For example, the 10 best trading days by percentage gain for the S&P 500 over the past three decades all occurred during recessions, often in close proximity to the worst days, according to a Wells Fargo analysis published last year.

And, although stocks go up and down, the S&P 500 index has an average annualized return of around 10% over the past few decades.

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Personal Finance

How to file for a free tax extension if you can’t make April 15 deadline

Published

23 hours ago

April 3, 2025

Business Finance News

Galina Zhigalova | Moment | Getty Images

If you can’t file your taxes by the April 15 deadline, there’s a free, easy way to submit a federal tax extension online, experts say.

Nearly 1 in 3 American admit that they procrastinate when it comes filing their taxes, according to a January survey of more than 1,000 U.S. filers from IPX1031, an investment property exchange service. In addition, about 25% do not feel prepared to file their taxes, the survey found.

As of March 21, the IRS received roughly 80 million individual returns of the 140 million expected this filing season, the agency’s latest reporting shows.

Many natural disaster victims have an automatic tax extension, which varies by jurisdiction. Military members serving in a combat zone also have more time to file.

However, the federal tax deadline for the majority of taxpayers is April 15. It’s possible to push that due date to Oct. 15 by filing for an extension.

But “it’s an extension to file, not an extension to pay,” said Jo Anna Fellon, managing director at financial services firm CBIZ.

“It’s an extension to file, not an extension to pay.”

After the tax deadline, you will start incurring the failure-to-pay penalty of 0.5% of your unpaid taxes for each month or partial month that your taxes remain unpaid. The failure-to-pay penalty has a maximum charge of 25% of your unpaid taxes.

That’s cheaper than the failure-to-file penalty, which applies when you don’t submit your return by the deadline. The failure-to-file penalty is 5% of unpaid taxes monthly, also limited to 25%.

But you’ll also owe interest on your unpaid balance, which is currently 7% and accrues daily after April 15.

You can estimate your taxes owed by creating a “pro forma return” — or mock version of your filing — using as many tax forms as possible, Fellon said.

The ‘easiest way’ to file an extension

There are a few free options to file a tax extension.

For federal taxes, you can complete Form 4868 and mail it to the IRS. But it’s better to file digitally to avoid processing delays amid the agency’s shrinking workforce, experts say. Paper filing can also increase fraud risk, they say.

The “easiest way” is by choosing “extension” when making a payment for 2024, which automatically submits Form 4868, according to Tommy Lucas, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo in Orlando, Florida.

“It takes all of five minutes,” and you can double-check the transaction via your IRS online account, he said.

IRS Direct Pay

Internal Revenue Service

Alternatively, you can file your extension for free online via IRS Free File, a public-private partnership between the IRS and several tax software companies.

For the 2025 season, you can use IRS Free File for returns if your adjusted gross income, or AGI, was $84,000 or less in 2024. But there’s no income limit to file an extension, Lucas said.