{
  "family": "common-ground",
  "checked": "2026-10-09",
  "scope": "A selected pilot, not an exhaustive policy platform. Survey findings describe the sampled population and the stated question, not all Americans or every version of a proposal.",
  "id": "social-security-high-earners",
  "metaTitle": "Social Security: high-earner taxes | America.co",
  "title": "Do Americans support Social Security taxes on higher earnings?",
  "description": "Compare polling on a $400,000 earnings threshold with current Social Security rules and a related bill using a different threshold.",
  "answer": "This survey found majority support across parties for adding Social Security payroll tax above a stated $400,000 wage threshold. That is not the same as removing the cap on every kind of income. Related H.R. 1700 uses $250,000, not the poll’s threshold, and was not enacted in the October 9, 2026 record checked here.",
  "category": "Public finances",
  "poll": {
    "label": "PPC national Q59",
    "period": "2026-02-11 / 2026-02-26",
    "population": "U.S. adults; weighted opt-in panels; total n=2,509; four-fifths modules n=1,991–2,020 (question-specific n unreported).",
    "questionSummary": "Social Security payroll tax on wages above $400,000.",
    "national": 79,
    "republican": 77,
    "democrat": 83,
    "independent": 74,
    "sourceUrl": "https://publicconsultation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Common-Ground-National-Questionnaire-2026.pdf#page=16"
  },
  "facts": [
    {
      "label": "2026 taxable wage maximum",
      "value": "$184,500",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.ssa.gov/cola/factsheets/2026.html"
    },
    {
      "label": "Related proposal",
      "value": "H.R. 1700, Social Security Expansion Act",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1700"
    },
    {
      "label": "Latest recorded action",
      "value": "February 27, 2025: subcommittee referral; still introduced",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/hr/BILLSTATUS-119hr1700.xml"
    },
    {
      "label": "Important mismatch",
      "value": "Bill summary uses earnings above $250,000; poll uses $400,000",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/hr/BILLSTATUS-119hr1700.xml"
    }
  ],
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Three designs that should not be merged",
      "paragraphs": [
        "Removing a cap entirely, taxing wages above a new threshold and adding taxes on investment income are different policies. State the tax base, the threshold, any gap between thresholds, and whether additional contributions generate additional benefits."
      ],
      "sourceUrls": []
    },
    {
      "heading": "What today’s rule and the related bill say",
      "paragraphs": [
        "SSA lists the 2026 wage maximum as $184,500. The questionnaire rounded its baseline to $185,000. H.R. 1700’s official summary describes payroll taxation above $250,000 and additional investment-income changes. Those details prevent treating the related bill as the exact proposal respondents evaluated."
      ],
      "sourceUrls": [
        "https://www.ssa.gov/cola/factsheets/2026.html",
        "https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/hr/BILLSTATUS-119hr1700.xml"
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "A solvency claim needs its own evidence",
      "paragraphs": [
        "Check an actuarial estimate’s assumptions, valuation period and complete policy package. Do not claim that one popular tax change guarantees permanent solvency. A poll’s stated budget effect is part of its prompt, not a fresh America.co actuarial estimate."
      ],
      "sourceUrls": []
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    "Distinguish wages from other income.",
    "Compare the current-year maximum with the precise proposed threshold.",
    "Read a dated official estimate before making a solvency claim."
  ],
  "caution": "This is a policy comparison, not retirement or tax advice. The poll’s support cannot be assigned to a related bill with a different threshold and additional provisions.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "PPC Social Security polling release",
      "url": "https://publicconsultation.org/social-security/bipartisan-majorities-in-the-battlegrounds-agree-on-how-to-prevent-social-securitys-insolvency-and-preserve-benefits/",
      "asOf": "2026-10-09"
    },
    {
      "title": "PPC questionnaire, Q59",
      "url": "https://publicconsultation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Common-Ground-National-Questionnaire-2026.pdf",
      "asOf": "2026-10-09"
    },
    {
      "title": "SSA 2026 fact sheet",
      "url": "https://www.ssa.gov/cola/factsheets/2026.html",
      "asOf": "2026-10-09"
    },
    {
      "title": "Official H.R. 1700 action record and CRS summary",
      "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/hr/BILLSTATUS-119hr1700.xml",
      "asOf": "2026-10-09"
    },
    {
      "title": "H.R. 1700 introduced text",
      "url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hr1700ih/html/BILLS-119hr1700ih.htm",
      "asOf": "2026-10-09"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    {
      "label": "How to track congressional votes",
      "url": "/learn/how-to-track-congressional-votes"
    },
    {
      "label": "Public resource desk",
      "url": "/resources"
    },
    {
      "label": "Federal spending resources",
      "url": "/every-federal-dollar"
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    [
      "Is taxing wages above $400,000 the same as removing the cap entirely?",
      "No. A threshold proposal can leave a gap and treat wages and investment income differently."
    ],
    [
      "Does H.R. 1700 use the same threshold as this poll?",
      "No. The official bill summary uses $250,000, while the selected poll question uses $400,000."
    ]
  ],
  "route": "/common-ground/social-security-high-earners",
  "file": "common-ground/social-security-high-earners.html"
}