Higher Payroll Taxes Could Keep Social Security Safe Until 2059-Report
Summary
Social Security payroll taxes apply only to earnings up to an annual limit, and taxable payroll fell from about 41 percent of U.S. gross domestic product in 1983 to 34 percent in 2025. An analysis estimated that keeping the share at its 1983 level could have added $10.8 trillion in revenue and interest through 2034 and extended full scheduled benefits until 2059; current projections put depletion of the retirement and survivor trust fund in 2032.Key Facts
- Employees and employers each pay 6.2 percent of covered wages for Social Security, while self-employed workers generally pay the full 12.4 percent.
- In 2026, the Social Security payroll tax applies to the first $184,500 of a worker’s earnings; the limit is scheduled to rise to $192,300 in 2027.
- Social Security payroll taxes supplied about 91 percent of the program’s revenue in 2025.
- Business and investment income generally does not face Social Security payroll taxes, and wages above the annual taxable maximum are not taxed for Social Security.
- The 2026 Social Security trustees’ projection says the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund will be depleted in 2032.
- After depletion, incoming revenue would cover about 78 percent of scheduled benefits unless Congress acts.
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