Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-4-2005
ISSN
1048-3306
Publisher
Tax Analysts
Language
en-US
Abstract
The ongoing public discussion of possible changes in the Social Security retirement system has largely ignored a small but significant aspect: The relationship between the retirement benefits paid and the federal income tax. Internal Revenue Code section 86 includes Social Security retirement benefits in the federal income tax base on a three-tier system. Individuals may exclude benefits from gross income, include them at 50 percent, or include them at 85 percent. Proposed legislation would repeal the top tier. Modification of section 86, to better accord with the proper measurement of income subject to tax, perhaps embodied in a larger "fix" for Social Security, should become part of the legislative agenda.
Recommended Citation
Alan L. Feld,
Two Tweaks for the Taxation of Social Security Benefits
,
108
Tax Notes
137
(2005).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/2969
