How benefits are taxed, unchanged
Add half your benefits to your other income. If that total is over $25,000 ($32,000 joint), up to 50% of benefits become taxable; over $34,000 ($44,000 joint), up to 85%. Those thresholds aren't indexed for inflation and the 2025 law left them alone.
What the senior deduction does
It doesn't make benefits tax-free. It subtracts $6,000 per person 65 or older from taxable income, on top of the standard deduction and the extra standard deduction seniors already get. For many retirees that's enough to cover the taxable part of their benefits.
Single, 68, in 2026: $24,000 of Social Security and $30,000 from a pension and IRA.
Taxable Social Security: $11,300. Adjusted gross income: $41,300.
Taxable income before: $41,300 − $16,100 standard − $2,050 extra for 65+ = $23,150.
With the $6,000 senior deduction: $17,150. Federal tax drops by $720.
Who gets the most out of it
Retirees with income between roughly $30,000 and $75,000 single ($60,000 and $150,000 joint) see the biggest effect. Below that, the standard deduction often covers everything already. Above $75,000 ($150,000 joint), the deduction starts to phase out.
How long it lasts
Tax years 2025 through 2028. You claim it on Schedule 1-A, Part V, whether you itemize or not, and married couples have to file jointly.
Updated November 3, 2026. Sources: Internal Revenue Code §151(d)(5), IRS Fact Sheet 2025-03, 2025 Schedule 1-A (Form 1040), IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32.