January 05, 2024

220 People Finished Paying Social Security Taxes on New Year’s Day

Just a few hours into 2024, more than 220 Americans, including SpaceX/Tesla/X’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook, paid all their Social Security taxes for the year.

This comes in sharp contrast to the over 160 million American workers who will continue to pay Social Security taxes on the income they earn all year.

This wide disparity is due to the cap on maximum earnings subject to Social Security tax — $160,200 in 2023 and now $168,600 in 2024.

If the top ten CEO’s paid Social Security tax on all their income — including stock options — the system would have received $3.4 billion.

“If the wealthiest Americans paid their fair share, we could strengthen the Social Security program and even expand benefits,” said Joseph Peters, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. “It is time for Congress to adopt this common sense solution and deliver greater retirement security for all.”