Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ran the purported email through Grok, asking whether its claims were true, and this was the response:

*Claim: The bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits.

Verdict: Misleading. The bill does not directly eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits but provides a deduction that may result in no taxes on benefits for many seniors, particularly those with moderate incomes. The "90%" figure depends on specific income scenarios and existing deductions, not a blanket tax elimination.

*Claim: The bill provides an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older.

Verdict: True. The bill does provide an enhanced deduction for seniors, as described.

*Claim: The legislation reaffirms President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security.

Verdict: Partially true but misleading. The bill provides tax relief for seniors, but it does not fully deliver on the promise to eliminate Social Security taxes, and it may have negative implications for the Social Security trust fund.

Fiscal Impact: The OBBB is projected to increase federal deficits by $3.3–$4 trillion over 10 years, and the senior deduction, while less costly than eliminating Social Security taxes ($200 billion vs. $1.4–$1.5 trillion over 10 years), contributes to this.

The bolded cannot possibly be true. We have been told repeatedly that this bill only helps the wealthy.

It helps the wealthy significantly. It helps others minimally, and not sufficiently enough to offset all the economic harm of all of Trumps other policies.

+1 The vast majority of social security recipients don’t make enough money to pay federal taxes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I ran the purported email through Grok, asking whether its claims were true, and this was the response:

*Claim: The bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits.

Verdict: Misleading. The bill does not directly eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits but provides a deduction that may result in no taxes on benefits for many seniors, particularly those with moderate incomes. The "90%" figure depends on specific income scenarios and existing deductions, not a blanket tax elimination.

*Claim: The bill provides an enhanced deduction for taxpayers aged 65 and older.

Verdict: True. The bill does provide an enhanced deduction for seniors, as described.

*Claim: The legislation reaffirms President Trump’s promise to protect Social Security.

Verdict: Partially true but misleading. The bill provides tax relief for seniors, but it does not fully deliver on the promise to eliminate Social Security taxes, and it may have negative implications for the Social Security trust fund.

Fiscal Impact: The OBBB is projected to increase federal deficits by $3.3–$4 trillion over 10 years, and the senior deduction, while less costly than eliminating Social Security taxes ($200 billion vs. $1.4–$1.5 trillion over 10 years), contributes to this.

The bolded cannot possibly be true. We have been told repeatedly that this bill only helps the wealthy.

It helps the wealthy significantly. It helps others minimally, and not sufficiently enough to offset all the economic harm of all of Trumps other policies.

Anonymous wrote:An explainer from the NY Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/06/your-money/social-security-tax.html

The BUB adds an additional $6,000/person deduction for tax filers 66+, phasing out beginning at $75,000/single filer ($150,000 per couple).

Note that most Social Security recipients barely owe income tax as it is: "Under current law, an estimated 64 percent of beneficiaries did not owe taxes on their Social Security benefit." The new deduction expands the group of non-owers to about 88%.

The new elder deduction only lasts til 2028, and, as usual, benefits middle-class baby boomers at the expense of Gen X, for whom Social Security will now run dry a year earlier.