Angie Craig: “Today I am introducing the Simple Tax for Seniors Act. This bill would allow seniors age 65 and older with Social…”

“Today I am introducing the Simple Tax for Seniors Act. This bill would allow seniors age 65 and older with Social Security and pension income to file a short form similar to the 1040EZ Internal Revenue Service form. Under current IRS rules, millions of Americans are prohibited from using the 1040EZ short form simply because they are age 65 or older. Many currently file using only the standard deduction. The Simple Tax for Seniors Act would create the new 1040S form, allowing seniors who receive pension income to avoid filing the burdensome and complicated itemized deduction forms. As many as 11 million seniors would be able to file in the first year, in less time, on a simplified, two-page form. Seniors no longer would be forced annually to disclose more information on their retirement savings and pension plan than necessary. The Simple Tax for Seniors Act makes no change in the tax code itself, so taxpayers using the new form would pay the same amount as under Standard Form 1040. This is common sense legislation. It is a win for seniors because it will make life easier and it is a win for taxpayers since it will cost less to process the new form. It is also non-controversial. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed similar legislation by a vote of 418-0. I invite my colleagues to cosponsor this sensible legislation.”