Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis floated a pair of bills Monday that would give elderly Americans deeper tax cuts, The Post can reveal, as House Republicans are totaling up deductions for a massive package they want to send to President Trump’s desk later this year.
Mallotakis, the lone Republican repping New York City in Congress, introduced the Bonus Tax Relief for America’s Seniors Act and the Tax Relief Unleashed for Seniors by Trump (TRUST) Act to increase deductions on the taxable income of Americans over the age of 65 and enjoying Social Security benefits.
The Bonus Tax Relief act, which is bipartisan, would give individuals and married couples extra deductions of $5,000 and $10,000, respectively. The TRUST Act would double tax-exempt income for seniors on Social Security from $25,000 to $50,000 for single filers and from $32,000 to $64,000 for married couples.
“Our seniors have worked hard and paid taxes their whole lives and they should be able to keep more of their Social Security and retirement income without Uncle Sam trying to reach into their pockets again,” Malliotakis said in a statement.
“Many of our seniors have been crushed by inflation, and are being forced to stretch their retirement savings further than ever before,” added Malliotakis, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee. “The bills I’m introducing today would reduce the tax burden on our seniors, keep more money in their pockets and allow them to retire with greater financial security.”
Trump has asked Republicans in Congress to make good on his 2024 campaign promises by eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay and Social Security — in addition to making his 2017 tax cuts permanent — as part of either a single- or multi-bill package.
GOP senators leapfrogged their House Republican colleagues last week by releasing a budget framework for the president’s legislative priorities on border security and energy — but Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) is still hoping to cram those line items into “one big, beautiful bill” along with tax provisions.
Nonpartisan groups like the Tax Foundation and Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget have estimated that extending Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will hike the deficit by between $3.5 trillion and $3.9 trillion.
Throwing other deductions on top of ending taxes on Social Security, overtime and tips is forecast to decrease federal revenue by hundreds of billions more.
US seniors currently enjoy a deduction on bonus income of $1,950 for single filers and $3,100 for joint filers, meaning the Bonus Tax Relief measure more than doubles the amount of money no longer taxable by the IRS.
Malliotakis’ office expects that the average married couple making $85,000 annually would keep $2,100 in their pocket with the use of the proposed bonus deduction.
“Our seniors on fixed incomes can’t afford a hefty tax bill,” said Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio), who also sits on the Ways and Means panel and is co-sponsoring the legislation.
“By increasing the standard deduction bonus and eliminating the marriage penalty, we can give their budgets some much-needed breathing room.”
Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), another Ways and Means member who signed onto the Bonus Tax Relief bill, said that it was important for seniors to be able to “retire with the financial security and dignity they deserve.”
“Our seniors have spent their lives working, saving, and contributing to our economy, yet too many are now struggling to make ends meet,” Panetta added. “Through this bipartisan legislation, we can take a meaningful step toward easing that burden by allowing seniors to keep more of their hard-earned money.”
The TRUST Act is meant to save even more money for seniors by indexing the income threshold to keep pace with inflation.
Malliotakis told The Post last month that she hoped her legislative fixes would advance Trump’s “commitment to reduce taxes paid on Social Security” because the current tax code makes it difficult to live on retirement income while taking a part-time job, cashing pension checks or subsisting on any gains from long-term investments.
As the GOP lawmaker put it: “You get crushed under the current the current rules.”
