The federal income tax on Social Security benefits has not been repealed, reduced, or scheduled for a vote. Three separate bills in the current Congress would end it outright, and all three are sitting exactly where they were filed, in the committees that received them, with no recorded action since 2025. What did become law for older filers is a different thing entirely: a $6,000 deduction that runs for four tax years and disappears at a specific income level.
H.R. 904, H.R. 2909 and S. 2716 All Stopped at the Committee Door
The bluntest of the three is H.R. 904, titled No Tax on Social Security, whose official purpose is to amend the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the inclusion in gross income of Social Security benefits. Representative Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey introduced it on January 31, 2025. It was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means the same day, and the official record shows nothing after that.
The other two carry the same title as each other. Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota introduced H.R. 2909, the You Earned It, You Keep It Act, on April 14, 2025; it went to Ways and Means and to Energy and Commerce, and its latest action is still that referral. Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona introduced the Senate companion, S. 2716, on September 4, 2025; it was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance that day. September 4, 2025 is the most recent action of any kind across all three bills.
Free retirement updates: Want plain-English help keeping more of your money in retirement? The free Retirement Shield newsletter covers the benefits, deadlines, and money mistakes that cost retirees, a couple times a week. Subscribe free.
The $6,000 Deduction That Passed Instead
While the repeal bills sat, a different provision moved and became law. The IRS describes it as an enhanced deduction for seniors, and the terms are specific. An individual who is age 65 on or before the last day of the tax year may claim an additional $6,000 deduction. A married couple in which both spouses qualify may claim $12,000. It applies for tax years 2025 through 2028, and it is available whether the filer itemizes or takes the standard deduction, which matters because most older filers do not itemize.
The agency’s own summary of the provision also lists two administrative conditions that quietly disqualify people who ignore them. The return must include the filer’s Social Security number, and a married filer must file jointly. Married filing separately does not reach it.
Where the $75,000 Phase-Out Bites
The deduction is not universal among people 65 and older. It phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income above $75,000, or $150,000 on a joint return. Below those thresholds a qualifying filer gets the full amount. Above them the benefit shrinks, and at a high enough income it is gone.
For a retired household, modified adjusted gross income is not just the pension. Withdrawals from a traditional IRA or 401(k), required minimum distributions, interest and dividends, capital gains from selling an asset, and the taxable portion of Social Security itself all feed into it. A one-time event in a single year, such as selling a second property or taking a large distribution to cover a roof, can push a household over the line for that year even if its ordinary income sits well below it. Because the deduction is claimed per eligible individual, a couple in which only one spouse has turned 65 claims $6,000, not $12,000.
A Deduction Against Income Is Not a Repeal of the Tax
The distinction between what passed and what was proposed is the whole story, and it is easy to lose. The three stalled bills would strike Social Security benefits out of gross income, meaning the benefit would stop being taxable at all. The enacted provision leaves that structure untouched. Benefits remain includable in income under the same rules as before, and the deduction is then subtracted from income further down the return.
The practical difference shows up in two places. A repeal would help every taxed beneficiary regardless of age, including someone drawing survivor or disability benefits before 65. The deduction reaches only filers who have hit 65, and only those under the income thresholds. A repeal would also be permanent unless Congress changed it back. The deduction is not.
The Provision Expires After Tax Year 2028
The IRS states the window without hedging: effective 2025 through 2028. That is four filing years. Absent further legislation, a 66-year-old claiming $6,000 on a 2026 return would claim it again for 2027 and 2028 and then lose it, while the underlying tax on benefits continues exactly as it did before.
The $6,000 is also a flat statutory figure rather than an inflation-adjusted one, so its real value erodes each year it is in force even as benefit amounts rise with the annual cost-of-living adjustment. Anyone waiting for the tax on Social Security to end should read the three status pages rather than the bill titles. As of today the most recent entry on any of them is a committee referral, and the newest of those referrals is nearly a year old.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
More Financial Reading
