I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8717 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the inclusion in 
gross income of social security benefits, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 16, 2022 
Ms. CRAIG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal 
the inclusion in gross income of social security benefits, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘You Earned It, You 
Keep It Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REPEAL OF INCLUSION IN GROSS INCOME OF SO-
CIAL SECURITY BENEFITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 86 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 (relating to social security benefits) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(g) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 
any taxable year beginning after the date of the enactment 
of this subsection.’’. 
(b) SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUNDS HELD HARM-
LESS.—There are hereby appropriated (out of any money 
in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated) for each fiscal 
year to each fund under the Social Security Act (including 
the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund) or the Rail-
road Retirement Act of 1974 an amount equal to the re-
duction in the transfers to such fund for such fiscal year 
by reason of section 86(g) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986. 
SEC. 3. DETERMINING WAGES AND SELF-EMPLOYMENT IN-
COME ABOVE CONTRIBUTION AND BENEFIT 
BASE AFTER 2022. 
(a) DETERMINATION OF WAGES ABOVE CONTRIBU-
TION AND BENEFIT BASE AFTER 2022.— 
(1) AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE 
CODE OF 1986.— 
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(A) REPEAL
OF
PRESENT
LAW
LIMITA-
TION.—Section 3121(a) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by striking paragraph 
(1). 
(B) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF WAGES.— 
Section 3121 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(aa) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF WAGES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any calendar 
year in which the contribution and benefit base (as 
determined under section 230 of the Social Security 
Act) is less than $250,000, for purposes of the taxes 
imposed by sections 3101(a) and 3111(a), the term 
‘wages’ does not include that part of the remunera-
tion which, after remuneration equal to such con-
tribution and benefit base with respect to employ-
ment has been paid to an individual by an employer 
during the calendar year with respect to which such 
contribution and benefit base is effective, is paid to 
such individual by such employer during the cal-
endar year. The preceding sentence shall not apply 
to that part of the remuneration paid to an indi-
vidual after remuneration of $250,000 with respect 
to employment has been paid to such individual by 
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an employer (or any person related to, or acting on 
behalf of, such employer, as determined by the Sec-
retary) during the calendar year. 
‘‘(2) SUCCESSOR EMPLOYER.—If an employer 
(hereinafter referred to as successor employer) dur-
ing any calendar year, acquires substantially all the 
property used in a trade or business of another em-
ployer (hereinafter referred to as a predecessor), or 
used in a separate unit of a trade or business of a 
predecessor, and immediately after the acquisition 
employs in his trade or business an individual who 
immediately prior to the acquisition was employed in 
the trade or business of such predecessor, then, for 
the purpose of determining whether the successor 
employer has paid remuneration with respect to em-
ployment equal to the contribution and benefit base 
(as determined under section 230 of the Social Secu-
rity Act) to such individual during such calendar 
year, any remuneration with respect to employment 
paid (or considered under this paragraph as having 
been paid) to such individual by such predecessor 
during such calendar year and prior to such acquisi-
tion shall be considered as having been paid by such 
successor employer. 
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‘‘(3) REMUNERATION.—For purposes of this 
subsection, the term ‘remuneration’ does not include 
remuneration referred to in any paragraph of sub-
section (a).’’. 
(C) APPLICATION
TO
RAILROAD
RETIRE-
MENT.— 
(i) 
IN
GENERAL.—Section 
3231(e)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 
end the following new clause: 
‘‘(iv) LIMITATION
ON
EXCLUSION.— 
For purposes of so much of the taxes im-
posed by sections 3201(a), 3211(a), and 
3221(a) as are determined by reference to 
the rate in effect under section 3101(a) or 
3111(a)— 
‘‘(I) in the case of any calendar 
year in which the contribution and 
benefit base (as determined under sec-
tion 230 of the Social Security Act) is 
less than $250,000, clause (i) shall 
not apply to that part of the remu-
neration paid to an individual after 
remuneration of $250,000 for services 
rendered as an employee has been 
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paid to such individual by an em-
ployer (or any person related to, or 
acting on behalf of, such employer, as 
determined by the Secretary) during 
the calendar year, and 
‘‘(II) in the case of any calendar 
year in which such contribution and 
benefit 
base 
equals 
or 
exceeds 
$250,000, clause (i) shall not apply.’’. 
(ii) EXCLUSION
OF
REMUNERATION 
WHICH
IS
NOT
TREATED
AS
COMPENSA-
TION.—Section 3231(e)(2)(A)(ii) of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 
by inserting ‘‘or (iv)’’ after ‘‘under clause 
(i)’’. 
(D) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
3231(e)(2)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by striking ‘‘the second sen-
tence of section 3121(a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec-
tion 3121(aa)(2)’’. 
(2) AMENDMENT
TO
THE
SOCIAL
SECURITY 
ACT.—Section 209(a)(1)(I) of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 409(a)(1)(I)) is amended by insert-
ing before the semicolon at the end the following: 
‘‘except that this subparagraph shall apply only to 
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calendar years for which the contribution and ben-
efit base (as so determined) is less than $250,000, 
and, for such calendar years, only to the extent that 
remuneration with respect to employment paid to 
such employee does not exceed $250,000’’. 
(b) DETERMINATION
OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT IN-
COME ABOVE CONTRIBUTION AND BENEFIT BASE AFTER 
2021.— 
(1) AMENDMENTS
TO
INTERNAL
REVENUE 
CODE OF 1986.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Section 1402(b) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(b) SELF-EMPLOYMENT INCOME.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘self-employment 
income’ means the net earnings from self-employ-
ment derived by an individual, except that such term 
shall not include net earnings from self-employment 
if such net earnings for the taxable year are less 
than $400. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON OASDI TAX.—For purposes 
of section 1401(a), the term ‘self employment in-
come’ shall not exceed the sum of— 
‘‘(A) the total compensation not in excess 
of the contribution and benefit base (as deter-
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mined under section 230 of the Social Security 
Act) which is effective for the calendar year in 
which such taxable year begins, reduced by the 
amount of wages not in excess of such base 
paid to such individual during the taxable year, 
plus 
‘‘(B) the total compensation in excess of 
the greater of— 
‘‘(i) $250,000, or 
‘‘(ii) the amount of wages paid to 
such individual during the taxable year. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITION AND SPECIAL RULES.— 
‘‘(A) TOTAL
COMPENSATION.—For pur-
poses of paragraph (2), the term ‘total com-
pensation’ means the sum of the net earnings 
from self-employment and the amount of wages 
paid to such individual during the taxable year. 
‘‘(B) WAGES.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the term ‘wages’— 
‘‘(i) includes such remuneration paid 
to an employee for services included under 
an agreement entered into pursuant to the 
provisions of section 3121(l) (relating to 
coverage of citizens of the United States 
who are employees of foreign affiliates of 
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American employers) as would be wages 
under section 3121(a) if such services con-
stituted 
employment 
under 
section 
3121(b), and 
‘‘(ii) includes compensation which is 
subject to the tax imposed by section 3201 
or 3211 (or would be so subject but for 
paragraph (2) of section 3231(e)). 
‘‘(C) 
NONRESIDENT
ALIENS.—A 
non-
resident alien individual shall not be treated as 
an individual for purposes of paragraph (1), ex-
cept as provided by an agreement under section 
233 of the Social Security Act. An individual 
who is not a citizen of the United States but 
who is a resident of the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, or 
American Samoa shall not, for purposes of this 
chapter, be considered to be a nonresident alien 
individual. 
‘‘(D) CHURCH EMPLOYEE.—In the case of 
church employee income, the special rules of 
subsection (j)(2) shall apply for purposes of 
paragraph (1).’’. 
(B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
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(i) Section 1402(j)(2)(A) of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
striking all that precedes ‘‘shall be ap-
plied’’ and inserting: 
‘‘(A) SEPARATE APPLICATION OF DE MINI-
MIS RULE.—Subsection (b)(1)’’. 
(ii) Section 1402(j)(2)(B) of such 
Code is amended by striking ‘‘paragraph 
(2) of subsection (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub-
section (b)(1)’’. 
(2) AMENDMENTS
TO
THE
SOCIAL
SECURITY 
ACT.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Section 211(b)(1) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 411(b)) is 
amended— 
(i) in subparagraph (I)— 
(I) by inserting ‘‘and before 
2023’’ after ‘‘1974’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 
and 
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(J) For any taxable year beginning in any 
calendar year after 2022, an amount equal to— 
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‘‘(i) $250,000, reduced (but not below 
zero) by 
‘‘(ii) the sum of— 
‘‘(I) the part of the net earnings 
from self-employment (if any) which is 
not in excess of— 
‘‘(aa) the amount equal to 
the contribution and benefit base 
(as determined under section 
230) which is effective for the 
calendar year in which such tax-
able year begins, minus 
‘‘(bb) the amount of the 
wages paid to such individual 
during such taxable year, plus 
‘‘(II) the amount of the wages 
paid to such individual during such 
taxable year which is in excess of the 
amount in subclause (I)(aa); or’’. 
(B) PHASEOUT.—Section 211(b) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 411(b)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘Paragraph (1) shall apply only to taxable 
years beginning in calendar years for which the 
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contribution and benefit base (as determined 
under section 230) is less than $250,000.’’. 
(c) SPECIAL RULE FOR WAGES FROM MULTIPLE 
EMPLOYERS WHICH TOTAL IN EXCESS OF $250,000.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 21 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 3103. SPECIAL RULES FOR REMUNERATION FROM 
MULTIPLE EMPLOYERS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an employee re-
ceiving wages from more than one employer during a cal-
endar year, there is hereby imposed a tax on such em-
ployee (for the last taxable year beginning in the calendar 
year the wages are received) equal to the excess (if any) 
of— 
‘‘(1) the tax that would have been imposed by 
section 3101(a) if such wages had been received 
from one employer, over 
‘‘(2) the aggregate tax imposed by such section 
with respect to such wages. 
‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH SPECIAL REFUND PROVI-
SION.—No credit shall be determined under section 31(b) 
with respect to any employee for any taxable year unless 
the amount described in subsection (a)(1) with respect to 
wages received during the calendar year in which such tax-
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able year begins exceeds the amount described in sub-
section (a)(2) with respect to such wages, and the amount 
of such credit so determined shall not exceed such excess. 
‘‘(c) WAGES.—For purposes of this section, the term 
‘wages’ shall have the same meaning as when used in sec-
tion 1402(b). 
‘‘(d) APPLICATION TO TIER I RAILROAD RETIRE-
MENT TAX.—In the case of compensation (as defined in 
section 3231(e)), for purposes of applying subsections (a) 
and (b), the reference to the tax that would have been 
imposed by section 3101(a) shall be treated as including 
a reference to so much of the tax that would have been 
imposed on such compensation under section 3201(a) or 
3211(a) (or would have been so imposed but for paragraph 
(2) of section 3231(e)) as is determined by reference to 
the rate of tax in effect under section 3101(a).’’. 
(2) FAILURE
BY
INDIVIDUAL
TO
PAY
ESTI-
MATED
INCOME
TAX.—Subsection (m) of section 
6654 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(m) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT 
TAXES.—For purposes of this section, the tax imposed by 
sections 3101(b)(2) (to the extent not withheld) and the 
tax imposed by section 3103 shall be treated as taxes im-
posed by chapter 2.’’. 
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(3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for subchapter A of chapter 21 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 
end the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 3103. Special rules for remuneration from multiple employers.’’. 
(d) CONFORMING CHANGE TO NATIONAL AVERAGE 
WAGE INDEX.—Section 209(k) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 409(k)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and to para-
graph (4)’’ after ‘‘paragraph (2)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) For each calendar year after 2022, the na-
tional average wage index as defined in this section 
for such calendar year shall be deemed to be the na-
tional average wage index determined under the pre-
ceding paragraphs of this section increased by the 
following percentage: 
‘‘(A) For calendar years 2023 through 
2028, 0.7 percent. 
‘‘(B) For calendar years 2029 through 
2034, 0.8 percent. 
‘‘(C) For calendar years after 2035, 0.9 
percent.’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 
subsections (a) and (c) shall apply to remuneration 
paid in calendar years after 2022. 
(2) SELF-EMPLOYMENT INCOME.—The amend-
ments made by subsection (b) shall apply to taxable 
years beginning after December 31, 2022. 
SEC. 4. INCLUDING EARNINGS OVER $250,000 IN SOCIAL SE-
CURITY BENEFIT FORMULA. 
(a) INCLUSION OF EARNINGS OVER $250,000 IN DE-
TERMINATION OF PRIMARY INSURANCE AMOUNTS.—Sec-
tion 215(a)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
415(a)(1)(A)) is amended— 
(1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(2) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; and 
(3) by inserting after clause (iii) the following: 
‘‘(iv) 2 percent of the individual’s excess aver-
age indexed monthly earnings (as defined in sub-
section (b)(5)(A)).’’. 
(b) DEFINITION
OF EXCESS AVERAGE INDEXED 
MONTHLY EARNINGS.—Section 215(b) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 415(b)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘wages’’ and ‘‘self-employment 
income’’ each place such terms appear and inserting 
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‘‘basic wages’’ and ‘‘basic self-employment income’’, 
respectively; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5)(A) An individual’s excess average indexed 
monthly earnings shall be equal to the amount of the indi-
vidual’s average indexed monthly earnings that would be 
determined under this subsection by substituting ‘excess 
wages’ for ‘basic wages’ and ‘excess self-employment in-
come’ for ‘basic self-employment income’ each place such 
terms appear in this subsection (except in this paragraph). 
‘‘(B) For purposes of this subsection— 
‘‘(i) the term ‘basic wages’ means that portion 
of the wages of an individual paid in a year that 
does not exceed the contribution and benefit base for 
the year; 
‘‘(ii) the term ‘basic self-employment income’ 
means that portion of the self-employment income of 
an individual credited to a year that does not exceed 
an amount equal to the contribution and benefit 
base for the year minus the amount of the wages 
paid to the individual in the year; 
‘‘(iii) the term ‘excess wages’ means that por-
tion of the wages of an individual paid in a year 
after 2022 in excess of the higher of $250,000 or 
the contribution and benefit base for the year; and 
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‘‘(iv) the term ‘excess self-employment income’ 
means that portion of the self-employment income of 
an individual credited to a year after 2022 in excess 
of the higher of $250,000 or such contribution and 
benefit base for the year.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title II of the So-
cial Security Act is amended— 
(1) 
in 
section 
203(a)(6)(A) 
(42 
U.S.C. 
403(a)(6)(A)), by striking ‘‘85 percent of such indi-
vidual’s average indexed monthly earnings’’ and in-
serting ‘‘the sum of 85 percent of such individual’s 
average indexed monthly earnings and 1 percent of 
such individual’s excess average indexed monthly 
earnings (as defined in section 215(b)(5)(A))’’; 
(2) in section 212 (42 U.S.C. 412), by inserting 
‘‘excess average indexed monthly earnings,’’ after 
‘‘average indexed monthly earnings,’’ each place it 
appears; and 
(3) in section 215(e)(1) (42 U.S.C. 415(e)(1)), 
by inserting ‘‘and before 2023’’ after ‘‘after 1974’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to individuals who ini-
tially become eligible (within the meaning of section 
215(a)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act) for old-age or dis-
ability insurance benefits under title II of the Social Secu-
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rity Act, or who die (before becoming eligible for such ben-
efits), in any calendar year after 2022. 
(e) HOLDING SSI, MEDICAID, AND CHIP BENE-
FICIARIES HARMLESS.—For purposes of determining the 
income of an individual to establish eligibility for, and the 
amount of, benefits payable under title XVI of the Social 
Security Act, eligibility for medical assistance under the 
State plan under title XIX (or a waiver of such plan), or 
eligibility for child health assistance under the State child 
health plan under title XXI (or a waiver of the plan), the 
amount of any benefit to which the individual is entitled 
under title II of such Act shall be deemed not to exceed 
the amount of the benefit that would be determined for 
such individual under such title as in effect on the day 
before the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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