Overview

• Taxpayers age 65 and older can claim an extra $6,000 deduction ($12,000 for joint filers) for tax years 2025–2028, first taken on 2025 returns filed in 2026, and it applies even if benefits are deferred.
• Social Security remains subject to existing tax rules, and the new deduction is not above the line, so it does not lower AGI or MAGI used to calculate the taxable share of benefits.
• The full deduction is available below $75,000 MAGI for single filers and $150,000 for joint filers, then phases out at 6 cents per dollar of income above those thresholds until it disappears.
• A White House Council of Economic Advisers analysis estimates roughly 88% of seniors will owe no federal tax on Social Security after this change and other deductions, up from about 64%.
• Analysts caution the provision reduces federal receipts and could modestly worsen the Social Security trust fund outlook, as decades‑old, unindexed tax thresholds have already pushed more retirees into taxable status.