President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" promises the first new tax break for older Americans since 2017, a temporary "senior bonus" deduction that could reduce many retirees' taxable income by up to $6,000 each year from 2025-28.
How The Senior Bonus Works
The Senate-passed version lets every filer 65 or older subtract $6,000 ($12,000 for couples) from income regardless of whether they itemize. The House's One Big Beautiful Bill Act sets the figure at $4,000 per person, reported The Washington Post.
Both chambers phase out the break in full for modified adjusted gross incomes up to $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for joint filers. It disappears entirely above $175,000 and $250,000, respectively.
Who Qualifies For The Benefits
Middle-income retirees gain the most. A married couple earning $100,000 could save about $1,600 in federal tax under the Senate plan, analysts at Kiplinger estimate.
See also: How Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Impacts SNAP, Medicaid, Taxes And Student Loans
Lower-income seniors who already owe little or no tax on Social Security would see smaller or no savings, while high-income retirees would phased out. "It targets the people who need the help more," said Howard Gleckman of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in a statement to the Washington Post.
Warning On Solvency
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget pegs the senior bonus, together with the bill's broader tax extensions, at about $30 billion a year and says it could push the Social Security trust fund's exhaustion date to late 2032 from early 2033 by trimming the taxes seniors pay on their benefits. The Tax Foundation calculates that the four-year deduction alone could cost $90 billion if the Senate number prevails, and as much as $250 billion if later made permanent.
What Next: House and Senate negotiators must reconcile the $6,000 and $4,000 figures before a final vote expected before the July 4 recess. The Trump administration argues the deduction "slashes taxes on Social Security" without altering benefit formulas, delivering "historic tax relief" to seniors.
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