II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 158 

To eliminate the payroll tax for individuals who have attained retirement 

age, to amend title II of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation 

upon the amount of outside income which an individual may earn while 

receiving benefits under such title, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 17, 2017 

Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To eliminate the payroll tax for individuals who have attained 

retirement age, to amend title II of the Social Security 

Act to remove the limitation upon the amount of outside 

income which an individual may earn while receiving 

benefits under such title, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Let Seniors Work Act 

5 of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF PAYROLL TAX FOR INDIVIDUALS 

2 WHO HAVE ATTAINED RETIREMENT AGE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 230 of the Social Security 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 430) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subsection 

6 (b) or (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b), (c), or 

7 (e)’’, 

8 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘subsection 

9 (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (c) and (e)’’, and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub11 section: 

12 ‘‘(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

13 contribution and benefit base determined under this sec14 tion for any calendar year after 2017 for any individual 

15 who has attained retirement age (as defined in section 

16 216(l)(1)) shall be reduced to zero.’’. 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall apply to remuneration paid in any cal19 endar year after 2017. 

20 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO DEDUC21 TIONS ON ACCOUNT OF WORK. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsections (b), (c)(1), (d), (f), 

23 (h), (j), and (k) of section 203 of the Social Security Act 

24 (42 U.S.C. 403) are repealed. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 203 of 

2 such Act (as amended by subsection (a)) is further amend3 ed— 

4 (1) in subsection (c), by redesignating such sub5 section as subsection (b), and— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘Noncovered Work Outside 

7 the United States or’’ in the heading; 

8 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), 

9 and (4) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respec10 tively; 

11 (C) by striking ‘‘For purposes of para12 graphs (2), (3), and (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘For 

13 purposes of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3)’’; and 

14 (D) by striking the last sentence; 

15 (2) in subsection (e), by redesignating such sub16 section as subsection (c), and by striking ‘‘sub17 sections (c) and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; 

18 (3) in subsection (g), by redesignating such 

19 subsection as subsection (d), and by striking ‘‘sub20 section (c)’’ each place it appears and inserting 

21 ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 

22 (4) in subsection (l), by redesignating such sub23 section as subsection (e), and by striking ‘‘sub24 section (g) or (h)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

25 (d)’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) PROVISIONS RELATING TO BENEFITS TERMI3 NATED UPON DEPORTATION.—Section 202(n)(1) of the 

4 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(n)(1)) is amended by 

5 striking ‘‘Section 203 (b), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘Section 203(b)’’. 

7 (b) PROVISIONS RELATING TO EXEMPTIONS FROM

8 REDUCTIONS BASED ON EARLY RETIREMENT.— 

9 (1) Section 202(q)(5)(B) of such Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 402(q)(5)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘sec11 tion 203(c)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(b)(1)’’. 

12 (2) Section 202(q)(7)(A) of such Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 402(q)(7)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘de14 ductions under section 203(b), 203(c)(1), 203(d)(1), 

15 or 222(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘deductions on account of 

16 work under section 203 or deductions under section 

17 222(b)’’. 

18 (c) PROVISIONS RELATING TO EXEMPTIONS FROM

19 REDUCTIONS BASED ON DISREGARD OF CERTAIN ENTI20 TLEMENTS TO CHILD’S INSURANCE BENEFITS.— 

21 (1) Section 202(s)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 402(s)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘paragraphs (2), 

23 (3), and (4) of section 203(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘para24 graphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 203(b)’’. 

25 (2) Section 202(s)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

26 402(s)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘The last senVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Jan 28, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S158.IS S158

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1 tence of subsection (c) of section 203, subsection 

2 (f)(1)(C) of section 203, and subsections’’ and in3 serting ‘‘Subsections’’. 

4 (d) PROVISIONS RELATING TO SUSPENSION OF

5 ALIENS’ BENEFITS.—Section 202(t)(7) of such Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 402(t)(7)) is amended by striking ‘‘Subsections 

7 (b), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subsection (b)’’. 

8 (e) PROVISIONS RELATING TO REDUCTIONS IN BEN9 EFITS BASED ON MAXIMUM BENEFITS.—Section 

10 203(a)(3)(B)(iii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 403(a)(3)(B)(iii)) is amended by striking ‘‘and subsections 

12 (b), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘and subsection (b)’’. 

13 (f) PROVISIONS RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR MIS14 REPRESENTATIONS CONCERNING EARNINGS FOR PERI15 ODS SUBJECT TO DEDUCTIONS ON ACCOUNT OF WORK.— 

16 Section 208(a)(1)(C) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 408(a)(1)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘under section 

18 203(f) of this title for purposes of deductions from bene19 fits’’ and inserting ‘‘under section 203 for purposes of de20 ductions from benefits on account of work’’. 

21 (g) PROVISIONS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT EARNINGS

22 IN DETERMINING BENEFIT COMPUTATION YEARS.— 

23 Clause (I) in the next to last sentence of section 

24 215(b)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(b)(2)(A)) is 

25 amended by striking ‘‘no earnings as described in section 


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1 203(f)(5) in such year’’ and inserting ‘‘no wages, and no 

2 net earnings from self-employment (in excess of net loss 

3 from self-employment), in such year’’. 

4 (h) PROVISIONS RELATING TO ROUNDING OF BENE5 FITS.—Section 215(g) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(g)) is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘and any deduction under section 

7 203(b)’’. 

8 (i) PROVISIONS RELATING TO EARNINGS TAKEN

9 INTO ACCOUNT IN DETERMINING SUBSTANTIAL GAINFUL

10 ACTIVITY OF BLIND INDIVIDUALS.—The second sentence 

11 of section 223(d)(4)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 423(d)(4)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘if section 102 of 

13 the Senior Citizens Right to Work Act of 1996 had not 

14 been enacted’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘if the amend15 ments to section 203 made by section 102 of the Senior 

16 Citizens Right to Work Act of 1996 and by the Let Sen17 iors Work Act of 2017 had not been enacted’’. 

18 (j) PROVISIONS DEFINING INCOME FOR PURPOSES

19 OF SSI.—Section 1612(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 1382a(a)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘as determined under section 

22 203(f)(5)(C)’’ in paragraph (1)(A) and inserting ‘‘as 

23 defined in the last two sentences of this subsection’’; 

24 and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end (after and below para2 graph (2)(H)) the following: 

3 ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), the term ‘wages’ 

4 means wages as defined in section 209, but computed 

5 without regard to the limitations as to amounts of remu6 neration specified in paragraphs (1), (6)(B), (6)(C), 

7 (7)(B), and (8) of section 209(a). In making the computa8 tion under the preceding sentence, (A) services which do 

9 not constitute employment as defined in section 210, per10 formed within the United States by an individual as an 

11 employee or performed outside the United States in the 

12 active military or naval services of the United States, shall 

13 be deemed to be employment as so defined if the remu14 neration for such services is not includible in computing 

15 the individual’s net earnings or net loss from self-employ16 ment for purposes of title II, and (B) the term ‘wages’ 

17 shall be deemed not to include (i) the amount of any pay18 ment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or any of his 

19 or her dependents (including any amount paid by an em20 ployer for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to pro21 vide for any such payment) on account of retirement, or 

22 (ii) any payment or series of payments by an employer 

23 to an employee or any of his or her dependents upon or 

24 after the termination of the employee’s employment rela25 tionship because of retirement after attaining an age specVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Jan 28, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S158.IS S158

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1 ified in a plan referred to in section 209(a)(11)(B) or in 

2 a pension plan of the employer.’’. 

3 (k) REPEAL OF DEDUCTIONS ON ACCOUNT OF WORK

4 UNDER THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT PROGRAM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Railroad 

6 Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231a) is amend7 ed— 

8 (A) by striking subsection (f); and 

9 (B) by striking subsection (g)(2) and by 

10 redesignating subsection (g)(1) as subsection 

11 (g). 

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

13 (A) Section 3(f)(1) of such Act (45 U.S.C. 

14 231b(f)(1)) is amended in the first sentence by 

15 striking ‘‘before any reductions under the provi16 sions of section 2(f) of this Act,’’. 

17 (B) Section 4(g)(2) of such Act (45 U.S.C. 

18 231c(g)(2)) is amended— 

19 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘shall, be20 fore any deductions under section 2(g) of 

21 this Act,’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; and 

22 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘any de23 ductions under section 2(g) of this Act and 

24 before’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments and repeals made by sections 3 and 

3 4 of this Act shall apply with respect to taxable years end4 ing on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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