Trump promises to halt taxes on Social Security; cites 'inflation nightmare' for seniors
Former President Trump on Monday promised to halt taxes on Social Security benefits in an effort to help many senior citizens.
On Truth Social, Trump posted a video saying inflation under the Biden administration has hurt seniors.
"To help seniors on fixed incomes who are suffering the ravages of Comrade Kamala Harris' inflation nightmare — I'm promising NO TAX on SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS!" he wrote on X.
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In a video that accompanied the post, Trump said nearly half of all seniors pay taxes on Social Security and that they had been "hit very, very, hard" because of inflation.
"I will always protect Social Security as I did just four years ago," he said. "Our great senior citizens will be happy and they will be safe. And they will be getting their money from Medicare and Social Security."
A recent report from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) noted that Social Security recipients face a 21% cut when a crucial trust fund that's on pace to be depleted in 2033 runs dry. The report said Social Security was paying more in benefits than it was currently receiving in payroll taxes.
Trump has promised to end taxes on Social Security before.
In July, he wrote online: "SENIORS SHOULD NOT PAY TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY!"
The estimated average Social Security benefit changes monthly, and the average benefit as of January 2024 was $1,907.
Trump and Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris have each said they will protect Social Security from benefit cuts. However, neither has put forward a plan to reform the program ahead of the trust fund's depletion.
In its report, the CRFB noted that Trump's plan to end the taxation of Social Security benefits would reduce revenue receipts to move up the insolvency date of the trust fund by more than one year to early 2032.
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"Both major party candidates for the presidency having no meaningful plan to save Social Security from insolvency is an egregious example of fiscal irresponsibility," CRFB President Maya MacGuineas told FOX Business in a statement last week. "In less than a decade, Social Security will face insolvency, and the automatic benefit cuts that follow will mean the average dual-income couple will have $16,500 less per year than if our nation's leaders had taken this issue seriously."
FOX Business' Eric Revell contributed to this report.