Social Security Administration sends misleading email lauding Trump's new tax cuts law

[SunSeeker]

Source: NBC News

"The bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits, providing meaningful and immediate relief to seniors who have spent a lifetime contributing to our nation’s economy,” said the email, which multiple beneficiaries shared with NBC News.

But it does not eliminate federal taxes on Social Security. Budget reconciliation, the arcane process Senate Republicans used to pass the bill while avoiding a Democratic filibuster, does not allow changes to be made to Social Security.

The Trump package does, however, include a temporary tax deduction of up to $6,000 for seniors ages 65 and older, and $12,000 for married seniors. Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers argued last month that nearly 9 in 10 seniors would not pay any federal taxes on their Social Security benefits because the new deduction would eliminate their tax burden.

“This email went to every Social Security subscriber and every word of it is a lie. Social Security benefits are still taxed. This big, ugly bill doesn’t change that,” New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote on X. “It’s disturbing to see Trump hijack a public institution to push blatant misinformation.”

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/social-security-administration-sends-misleading-email-lauding-trumps-n-rcna216990

[Lovie777]

1. This administration is cruel........................

[Norrrm]

2. Propaganda? Disinformation? False optimism?

Lies?
A partial truth is still a partial lie.

[ramapo]

3. Propaganda...get used to it

My wife and I received this bullshit email last night. Trump had it sent out to start the gaslight campaign. Maybe we will save a few pennies while the millionaires get six-figure tax reductions.

[reACTIONary]

5. My spouse got it and forwarded to me....

I knew it was bull shit propaganda, but I had to Google around the innerwebs to get all the facts together, then sent "just the facts, ma'am" back to her. She agreed it was propaganda.

[3Hotdogs]

4. If you're lucky, the deduction gets you about $1k off your total tax bill.

That is different from around 4k if Reagan's tax on SS were eliminated.

[llmart]

6. I might have gotten that email but...

I didn't read it - just sent it straight to Spam.

[DinahMoeHum]

7. I got that email, and promptly deleted it

without reading it.

[Wolf Frankula]

10. So did I

nt.

[Cheezoholic]

8. It's a gift to the more "well off" seniors. Those that live purely on their SS checks mostly won't be phased either way

The roughly 40% that live month to month on SS only will see little if any benefit at all, but 90% still have to go through the PIA to file (and can get in trouble for not filing). Yes there maybe 10% or so that are being squeezed by the taxing that may benefit but the biggest benefit will be those that are using SS as basically bonus retirement money. They get an extra 6k dollar tax write off and, I'd bet, most of those people have plenty to write off anyway. There are exceptions but the amount of people who will be actually saving money that they need across the board is going to be pretty low. Besides, if your pulling in more in yearly retirement (before SS) than the cap set for you to be taxed the highest amount into SS you don't need it as far as I'm concerned. Raise that taxable cap up to 500k and watch SS move ahead 75 years. Cant do that thats taxing the wealthy. I swear for the last 50 years it feels like every Repuke budget writers last name must be Popeil. But wait...There's more


Another stale biscuit tossed under the table for the poor.

[SunSeeker]

12. Exactly. Lift the cap on SS taxes! Make the rich pay the same SS tax rate as the poor!

It is ridiculous that we have a $176k income cap on SS taxes. There should be NO income cap for SS taxes, just like there isn't for other taxes. THAT would help SS, not this temporary tax deduction scam.

[progree]

9. The complete email I got, with my commentary

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143490887#post6

It makes it sound like there is a big cut in income taxes on Social Security benefits,
PLUS "Additionally, it provides an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older, "

i.e. a two-fer.
======================================

In https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143490887#post8

there is a Forbes article which purports to explain it all, but is totally confusing.

=================================================================

Key questions --

Does the money come out of the Social Security system? #8 kind of says partly. Anyway, it doesn't help seniors for very long if the SS Trust Fund runs out sooner, which, unless Congress acts, will mean an automatic cut in benefits.

If it's a deduction, is it an "above the line" deduction which means you get the deduction even if you take the standard deduction

Or a regular "below the line" deduction, that along with other such deductions, must in total exceed the standard deduction threshold in order to benefit you taxwise (otherwise you are just better off taking the standard deduction as 90% IIRC of filers do).

Is it a deduction or a tax credit?

#6 (the SSA letter) and #7 say its a deduction, while #8 says its a tax credit. Very different.
(If it's a tax credit, is it what they call "refundable", meaning that even if your income tax overall is zero or gets reduced to zero by the credit, you still get the remaining credit mailed to you as a check or deposit, i.e. like a negative income tax.)

Or non-refundable, meaning if your overall income tax is zero or get reduced to zero by the credit, then that's it, you get no further benefit from it.

[progree]

18. GoBankingRates has an explanation -- based on a MAY 22 CBS article before the Senate came up

with its own version that ultimately the House approved without change on July 3 and that Rump signed.

The GoBankingRates article was dated July 5 (yes, today), and uses information from an old discarded piece of legislation from May 22. Shameful example of AI-generated garbage.

In https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143490887#post10

where I have a subthread going on about the SSA email and 3 articles that are inconsistent with each other to be polite about it. And questions remaining, e.g. is it a deduction or a tax credit (Forbes claims the latter). If a deduction, is it "above the line" so that people who take the standard deduction benefit, or "below the line" where people don't benefit unless they itemize deductions -- and the total of the itemized deductions exceeds the standard deduction. If it's a tax credit, is it "refundable" or not? And so on.

I see some commentary on DU that only the rich benefit (actually one thing that is consistent is that the deduction begins phasing out beginning at $75,000 AGI or MAGI (for singles, $150,000 for married couples) and one article says the phase out is with a slope so that its completely phased out at like twice these levels, so no, Warren Buffett doesn't get any benefit from it.) EDIT-well the SSA email doesn't mention any phaseout /Edit

Another typical comment is that I don't pay taxes on SS, or very little, so this won't help me at all, or only a little. Well, as I understand it, the deduction is for all seniors (age 65+), and I haven't seen any reporting about any MINIMUM thresholds, only the upper thresholds in the above paragraph -- it that's true, then the size of the deduction is independent on how little or much you're paying in SS taxes now.

We can't make declarations about who benefits and who doesn't without understanding what's really in the legislation, now law.

In any case, its temporary -- it lasts only for 3 or 4 years (I forget which, I think its tax years 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028).

I'm ecstatic that some DUers have the luxury of throwing out information that will affect their taxes. I don't have that luxury -- certain decisions I have to make before year end or before (or should make to save me money) depend on my projected tax bracket and my projected AGI. I choose not to throw away information, and consequently end up paying more to Krasnov's government.

[AZ8theist]

11. "...to push blatant misinformation........"

Oh FOR FUCKS SAKE!!

WHEN is the MSM going to call Dotards' and the Reich Wing bullshit for what it is????

IT.
IS.
A.
LIE.

Fuck NBC for sugar coating the absolute bullshit coming out of the pigs anus mouth.

Call a spade a spade. These people are LYING. ALL THE TIME!!!!

They are LIARS!!

[BWdem4life]

13. It went to my Junk folder

Hopefully same thing happened to most others

[not fooled]

14. Yep, me too

Clearly red don propaganda. I hope someday the Federal government can be relied upon again to be truthful.

[malthaussen]

15. Yeah, I got that one.

Didn't even look at it. Trashed. Any email from the current Administration is not to be trusted.

-- Mal

[voteragain]

16. Fed-State

two words I always look for when taxes are mentioned.

robbing from Peter to pay Paul is always a republican tactic.

what I get out of that email I got too, is, look out, they want the states to tax SS.

[JohnnyRingo]

17. FYI: I already don't pay taxes on my SS. None

It's because that and my pension are my only source of income. There is a limit on how much someone can earn while working before the SS checks are included as taxable income.

As an extreme example, Warren Buffet collects the same money in his SS check that I do, but it is taxable because he pulls in so much on the side. Thanx to Trump, people won't be paying taxes on money they resented paying into in the first place. Money they really don't need.

[Bengus81]

19. The SS limit in 2025 is $32,000 for joint filers. But when filing you have a $30K standard deduction

So yeah...it's nothing more than more help for the RICH and nothing burger for everyone else. That phony "cut" ends in 2028,while the richest of the rich will continue to get their massive tax cuts till the sun burns out.

[Martin68]

20. I got that email and wrote a scathing response. Which was returned with the message, "Please do not reply, this email

box is not monitored. To contact Social Security Administration please follow this link." I'll send a response to that link.