Overview

• On July 3, the SSA emailed over 60 million beneficiaries praising the One Big Beautiful Bill and claiming it eliminated federal income taxes on nearly 90% of Social Security benefits
• On July 7, the agency appended a clarification to its press release to note the law only provides a deduction for taxpayers 65 and older, but it did not resend corrected emails
• The new deduction allows eligible seniors to claim up to $6,000 for singles and $12,000 for couples, phases out at higher income levels, and expires after the 2028 tax year
• Analysts at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimate the deduction will reduce Social Security and Medicare revenues by about $30 billion annually, potentially moving trust fund exhaustion from 2033 to 2032
• Critics say the partisan tone breaches the SSA’s nonpartisan communication norms and undermines beneficiary trust by spreading inaccurate information