New legislation, the Permanent Tax Relief for Seniors Act, would make permanent the $6,000 deduction for seniors, which expires in 2028.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa.
The senior deduction, $6,000 for individuals over 65 and $12,000 for married couples filing jointly, was originally enacted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025.
Miller-Meeks' bill "eliminates the sunset clause and permanently locks in this tax relief for future years," she said in a statement.
The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to remove the expiration date on the senior deduction.
Taxes and Social Security
The administration of President Donald Trump has argued that the senior tax deduction, in effect, eliminates taxes on Social Security benefits. Senior advocates like Shannon Benton, spokesperson for the Senior Citizens League, have pointed out that this is not the case.
But the tax break does effectively wipe out the tax for 14.2 million beneficiaries, according to a White House Council of Economic Advisers analysis cited by Miller-Meeks in her announcement.
Under the OBBBA, about 88% of Social Security beneficiaries receive exemptions and deductions exceeding their taxable Social Security benefits, according to the analysis, compared with 64% before the law was enacted.
Miller-Meeks said her bill would also provide "financial breathing room, especially for the 38% of seniors who are still working or looking for work because they couldn't afford retirement."
Benton said Wednesday in an email that the bill is "a positive advance that offers durable tax relief and greater predictability for older Americans."
But the issues around taxation of Social Security benefits go deeper, she says: While benefits are adjusted annually for inflation, the income thresholds for taxing benefits are not.
"The IRS determines whether a portion of a retiree's Social Security benefits is subject to federal income tax based on a measure called combined income (which includes modified adjusted gross income, nontaxable interest, and half of Social Security benefits)," she explained. "Congress set specific income thresholds decades ago that trigger taxation of benefits, and those thresholds have never been indexed to keep pace with inflation.
"Because the income thresholds were set in 1983 and 1993 and have never been adjusted for inflation, they effectively shrink in real value each year," Benton added. "That is the core reason more beneficiaries are gradually becoming subject to taxation even if their purchasing power has not meaningfully increased."
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