Washington, DC- Congressman Ron Paul yesterday introduced sweeping legislation that would end the deceptive government practice of taxing Social Security benefits. Under Paul’s legislation, such benefits would not be considered taxable income nor reported on an individual’s income tax return. This would immediately boost the retirement income of millions of American seniors, while correcting an unjust form of double taxation.

Social Security was never taxed until the 1980s, Paul stated. Social Security benefits are funded by taxes in the first place, and those benefits were not intended to be treated as ordinary income and taxed to raise revenue. The current system taxes seniors at least twice, as the January 27 ^th Time magazine cover story explains. Congress would never dare suggest to seniors that Social Security benefits should be reduced, but a tax on those benefits does exactly that. Many in Congress like to talk about protecting Social Security, but they use the tax laws to reduce benefits by subterfuge.

The spending culture in Washington is the real problem, Paul added. Congress is addicted to spending more and more each year, and Social Security benefits are seen as another source of money to plunder. Congress needs to stop the runaway spending and stop taxing seniors on benefits that have already been taxed.

Paul also introduced legislation last week that would prohibit Congress from spending Social Security funds on unrelated programs. The Social Security administration tells the American people that their federal payroll taxes are kept in a special trust fund, but in truth those payroll taxes are treated like general revenues and spent. Congress has a moral obligation to maintain a real Social Security trust fund, rather than holding IOUs and spending the money immediately.

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