Federal Taxes and the Elderly


 

Publication Date: February 2009

Publisher: Tax Policy Center

Author(s): Rudolph G. Penner

Research Area: Banking and finance

Keywords: Economic Well-being; Tax Policy; Elderly; Fiscal future

Type: Report

Abstract:

The article considers special federal tax provisions affecting the elderly. It examines the taxation of Social Security, private retirement accounts, estate taxation and other provisions of the law that mention age. It also analyzes how the elderly might be affected by tax increases necessitated by the dismal long-run budget outlook. In particular, it looks at the possibility that we shall become more reliant on consumption taxes.