“Promises made, promises kept.” That’s how a recent White House article celebrated the One Big, Beautiful Bill’s (OBBB) new senior tax deduction, set to take effect for the 2025 tax year. The Trump administration has claimed that, as a result of this change, 88% of seniors on Social Security won’t owe any taxes on their Social Security benefits — a follow-through on one of President Donald Trump’s biggest campaign promises.
It certainly sounds compelling, but as someone who’s been writing about Social Security for years, it only took me one look at the data to realize that the OBBB change was far from an end to benefit taxes. The new deduction will help many seniors to a degree, but you need to understand what it is — and isn’t — to know what kind of a difference it will make for you.
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