Social Security letter on taxes sends confusing message, some experts say

“It’s only higher-income beneficiaries who pay the tax in the first place,” said Kathleen Romig, a former Social Security Administration official who now works for the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “That’s who is being affected by this higher deduction, but it’s indirect.”

The median personal income for people 65 and over was about $32,000 in 2023, the most recent year for which figures are available, according to the Census Bureau.

The new deduction wouldn’t help single Social Security beneficiaries younger than age 65, policy experts said. That includes many disability beneficiaries, people who retired before 65, and those whose spouse or parent died, Romig said. “Lots of them are under age 65, so they are not affected by this at all,” she said.

The Social Security Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. The White House referred questions to the agency. It previously said that the 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.”

Romig, formerly a senior adviser in the Social Security Administration who worked for both Republican and Democratic presidents, described this week’s email from the agency as overly political in praising specific legislation — and referencing a Trump campaign promise to protect Social Security — while past communications were mostly about the logistics of filing and verifying information. An atypical email from a legitimate source could make recipients more likely to fall for scammers in the future, she said.

“Anything unexpected or unusual like this is raising alarm bells from [recipients of the email], as it probably should,” Romig said. “Next time, if they get an email from a fraudster purporting to be SSA, they’re going to be like, ‘Well, last time the thing I thought was scammy was actually legit.’”