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SENIORS: I believe your Social Security benefits should be exempt from federal income taxes, even if you have additional earnings. And I’m co-sponsoring legislation to that effect.

Social Security is funded from your paycheck. That deduction is essentially a tax, since it’s mandated by the government and taken directly out of your paycheck, whether you want to participate or not. You typically have no say-so in the matter.

The issue is that many seniors are subject to income taxes on their Social Security benefits, especially if they have some other income in addition to their Social Security, like wages from another job or self-employment, interest income, dividends, etc.

Last week, I co-sponsored legislation in the House that will completely eliminate income taxes on Social Security benefits. (This is H.R. 6590.) The bottom line is that if the government’s going to tax you to fund Social Security, then regardless of your individual circumstances, you shouldn’t be subject to further taxation when you receive that benefit.