GOP tax bill includes a $6,000 ‘senior deduction.’ Here’s who qualifies.

The tax bill approved by Senate Republicans on Tuesday includes a proposed $6,000 deduction for seniors, the legislative version of President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign pledge to end taxes on Social Security payments.

The new deduction is one of the flashiest provisions in the Trump tax legislation, and the White House has been eager to tout it as a major economic benefit for Americans 65 or older. But the provision would not benefit tens of millions of low-income seniors, and it would hasten the date by which the Social Security trust fund runs out of money, according to nonpartisan estimates.

Under current law, most taxpayers claim the standard deduction of $15,000 (or $30,000 for couples) to reduce their tax liability, though the GOP tax bill would increase those amounts slightly. Additionally, seniors already qualify for an additional deduction of $2,000 (or $3,600 for couples).

The Senate bill would create a third category that gives seniors an additional $6,000 (or $12,000) off their taxable income, provided they are below a certain income threshold. Seniors earning more than $75,000 per year ($150,000 for couples) would start to see a smaller deduction, which gradually diminishes and then disappears for those earning more than $175,000 ($250,000 for couples).

Benefits for lower-income seniors would be limited as well, because most do not have sufficient tax liability to claim the new deduction. In 2022, the median income for seniors was roughly $30,000, according to federal data, which is similar to the existing standard deduction. That means roughly half of Americans aged 65 or older would not benefit from the new Trump provision, although seniors’ median income has increased since 2022, experts say.

The policy — which would not apply to retirement benefit recipients ages 62 to 64 — is set to cost about $90 billion over four years, and closer to $250 billion if made permanent, according to estimates from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. While not a dominant share of the overall tax package, the provision is still among the more expensive individual items in the legislation.

The House version of the tax bill set the new senior deduction at $4,000, but it’s unclear if that or the Senate’s $6,000 proposal will make the final bill.

“This is going to be a meaningful tax cut that will help seniors in the upper-middle class,” said Marc Goldwein, senior vice president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan organization. “While it may be pitched as going to low-income seniors, low-income seniors don’t pay taxes already.”

The White House has pushed back against criticism of the proposal and argued it will fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to end taxes on Social Security. During the 2024 election, Trump endorsed several similar policies, including an end to taxing tips, that antagonized conservative tax experts but were designed to increase the political appeal of tax reform.

“The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers historic tax relief to seniors, with a new tax deduction that, combined with other deductions, ensures the average Social Security beneficiary will pay zero taxes on Social Security,” the White House said in a statement.

Still, the provision has also faced criticism for exacerbating the already grim financial outlook for Social Security, even though it doesn’t directly touch the structure of the program. That’s because Social Security benefits are partially taxable under current law, and the revenue from those taxes is funneled into the program’s trust fund that then disburses benefits. By reducing the amount of income that seniors owe taxes on, the new deduction would shrink the share of Social Security benefits subject to taxation, lowering the revenue flowing into the trust funds.

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” — the name Republicans have given the 2025 legislative package — would move up the Social Security trust fund’s exhaustion date by about one year, from 2033 to 2032, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. That is the same year today’s 60-year-olds will reach the program’s full retirement age, and when today’s youngest retirees will turn 69, the committee said.

Among those seniors who would qualify for the deduction, the savings would vary significantly based on their income and filing status. A couple over age 65 earning $100,000 could see their taxable income drop $12,000 with the deduction, while a single filer earning $40,000 might reduce their taxable income by only a few hundred dollars. And many seniors who are wealthy would probably qualify for the deduction because their annual earnings are in the low six figures.

Taxpayers who itemize their returns would also be eligible for the deduction.

“It’s essentially for middle- and upper-middle income people — rich people don’t get it, and it doesn’t do any good for lower-income people because they already make less than the standard deduction, before the new senior bonus,” said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

Gleckman said the deduction is still preferable to Trump’s original proposal to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, which he said would have done far more to benefit wealthier retirees. That plan would have been far more expensive, possibly over $1 trillion, according to estimates.

“There’s a significant share of older adults who already pay no taxes,” Gleckman said. “Pretty good, in that sense, that this doesn’t do more damage. But it also doesn’t really do much good for the people who need the most help.”