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Discussion » Questions » Politics » Are you in favor of no federal tax on Social Security income for seniors? Is it worth the cost?

Are you in favor of no federal tax on Social Security income for seniors? Is it worth the cost?

Posted - August 3

Responses


  • 8214
    Yes.
      August 3, 2024 6:27 AM MDT
    3

  • 10993
    Who do you think benefits from it the most?
      August 3, 2024 7:51 AM MDT
    1

  • 8214
    In theory, the more money in the pocket of the SS recipient, the less government has to chip in with benefits. 
      August 3, 2024 4:53 PM MDT
    0

  • 10993
    Actually, the benefit is the same, but the government won't get the taxes back which help pay the benefits. Low income people may not be taxed on or taxed on only half of it. The biggest benefits are paid to high earners, who would end up with the biggest tax break.
      August 3, 2024 5:41 PM MDT
    1

  • 8214
    Interesting, didn't think of that. Thanks. 
      August 3, 2024 8:53 PM MDT
    1

  • 34239
    Yes. 
      August 3, 2024 6:34 AM MDT
    2

  • 10993
    Do you have a preference on how to offset the loss of tax revenues? 
      August 3, 2024 7:50 AM MDT
    1

  • 34239
    Tax stock income at the same rate as regular income tax. 
      August 3, 2024 9:16 AM MDT
    1

  • 10993
    Won't that discourage investment in stocks and have the effect of slowing economic growth?  Also, since what appears to be profit, is partially the result of inflation, is it really fair to tax the same as regular income?
      August 3, 2024 10:34 AM MDT
    1

  • 34239
    They tax profit from a property sale and the increase there is often just inflation. 

    Yes it might discourage investment.  People can still evaluate that when making their choices about what to invest in.  
    People who want to tax the rich should have no problem  with taxing stock income as regular income.  It would affect the rich more who have their income in stocks in their businesses rather than a payroll check. Now maybe there should be income brackets before it is taxed that way. 

    But a person on SS with a spouse that makes under $100k should not be taxed on their SS.   (By the way, Biden voted for this twice)
      August 3, 2024 12:44 PM MDT
    1

  • 10993
    Yes, both sides want this. My own thought is that we need to raise the cap so high earners contribute more. Right now, the way benefits are taxed, those seniors who earned low wages, paid less in and thus get lower benefits, already are mostly exempt from taxes on it. So, the removal of taxes on benefits will give a bigger break to higher earners. And it amounts to one more tax break for the wealthy, who already paid a much smaller percentage of their income into it.
      August 3, 2024 1:49 PM MDT
    0

  • 34239
    True. But there are some who get hit with taxes because their spouse is still working and so it causes the SS to be taxed. 

    I would even be fine with earners who meet the high income limit not be allowed to draw SS at all. Honesty, people like Trump should not be on SS. People like John Kerry should not be drawing on SS. Or Musk, Bezos, Bloomberg  etc.  Generally, people who make more than the limit have other sources of income and would be fine without drawing SS. 
      August 3, 2024 4:06 PM MDT
    0

  • 10993
    I agree they don't need it, but they paid into it, so it wouldn't be fair to withhold it. Social Security is basically a Ponzi scheme, so we need everyone to pay into it, or it won't work.
      August 3, 2024 5:45 PM MDT
    0

  • 16762
    You could argue that government itself is a Ponzi scheme from that viewpoint - including the military, police, firefighting etc. If those who can afford to pay taxes don't, the funding for basic services dries up and the whole system collapses into anarchy.
      August 3, 2024 7:05 PM MDT
    0

  • 10993
     Not sure that I get your point. With Social Security, each generation pays for the generation ahead of it. We need to keep money coming in, or the people who paid in, won't get their benefit. The system was set up when life expectancy was lower, so it worked great. Now, rather than a few years of benefits, we get decades.
      August 3, 2024 7:27 PM MDT
    0

  • 16762
    My goodness,  I've wandered into the Twilight Zone - I find myself agreeing with m2c on a political issue!
    Personally I believe SS should be means tested (as it is in Australia) and not paid to households whose total income and assets (not including the principal place of residence) are above a certain limit. Then don't tax it when paid to those who absolutely require it to live on, and you don't tax it for higher earners because it's not paid in the first place.
      August 3, 2024 7:12 PM MDT
    1

  • 34239
    Lol.  Weird day. Spunky and I agreed on something as well today. 
      August 3, 2024 7:54 PM MDT
    0

  • 44600
    Yes...and I am in favor of no income tax on anything for those past 70.
      August 3, 2024 7:25 AM MDT
    2

  • 10993
    That sounds doable. 
      August 3, 2024 7:52 AM MDT
    1

  • 16762
    I wouldn't go quite that far. That puts Trump beyond it too. He doesn't pay tax anyway,  but he shouldn't have yet another loophole. More than a few seniors have investment portfolios that pay dividends in the millions.
    A tax free threshold of $15k or thereabouts regardless of age, and incremental above that. Brackets should also be pinned to CPI to eliminate bracket creep - if you get a raise that is equal to or less than inflation, you shouldn't be penalised by being pushed into a higher bracket.
      August 3, 2024 8:08 AM MDT
    3

  • 3698
    You have my vote.
      August 3, 2024 9:45 AM MDT
    2

  • 17592
    I do not think Social Security should be taxed at any level.  
      August 3, 2024 4:26 PM MDT
    2