Congress moves to eliminate federal tax on Social Security benefits
H.R. 904 — No Tax on Social Security · Filed by Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 31, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill repeals the federal income tax on Social Security benefits, effective immediately upon enactment. To offset the lost tax revenue that would normally flow into Social Security trust funds, the bill appropriates general Treasury funds to replace those lost transfers dollar-for-dollar, keeping the trust funds whole.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is the repeal of federal income taxation on Social Security benefits, coupled with a direct appropriation to offset the revenue loss. It is a straightforward tax cut for a specific population (Social Security recipients) funded by general Treasury revenue.
What the text implies
- The bill does not reduce Social Security benefits themselves, but it does reduce federal revenue available for other programs unless Congress raises taxes or cuts spending elsewhere.
- The appropriation language ('out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated') creates a permanent, open-ended fiscal obligation that grows with the Social Security population and benefit levels.
- Beneficiaries with higher incomes (who currently pay tax on up to 85% of benefits under the existing formula) receive larger absolute tax cuts than lower-income beneficiaries, creating a regressive distributional effect within the beneficiary population.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Social Security beneficiaries (primarily retirees, disabled workers, and survivors) receive an immediate tax cut on their benefits with no reduction in their benefits themselves. The offsetting Treasury appropriation ensures the trust funds do not deteriorate, protecting future beneficiaries. The cost is borne by general taxpayers rather than by Social Security recipients.
Who stands to gain
- Social Security beneficiaries (retirees, disabled workers, survivors)
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 86 (IRC), Social Security Act, Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, U.S. Treasury
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Republicans.
- Jan 31, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 31, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $10,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 18 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Jefferson Van Drew, the sponsor, reported $386,700 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Trea Senior Citizens League — $10,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 2, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (881 characters) on Jun 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 2, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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