Senior Citizens' Tax Relief Act of 2005

H.R. 1014, the Senior Citizens' Tax Relief Act of 2005, proposed to eliminate the 1993 tax increase on Social Security and Tier 1 Railroad Retirement benefits. Under this legislation, the maximum portion of these benefits subject to federal income tax would have been reduced from 85% back to 50%. To ensure the Medicare program remained funded, the bill included a provision to replace the lost tax revenue with transfers from the government's general fund to the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund.

For the average retiree, this bill would have lowered the annual federal income tax burden for those whose income exceeds certain thresholds. By reducing the taxable percentage of benefits, eligible seniors would have retained more of their monthly retirement checks for personal use. The bill did not pass during the 109th Congress and did not become law.