On Feb. 25, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a budget resolution, a document that lays out a blueprint for spending targets for the government.
After the resolution passed, claims (archived) circulated (archived) online (archived) that it contained tax cuts on income earned from tips, overtime work and Social Security. Snopes readers also messaged us to ask about these claims.
(X user @Ryan_In_Mi)
One X user wrote:
No Taxes on Tips
No Taxes on Overtime
And No Taxes on Social Security
Trump did it.
Democrats wanted you to keep paying taxes.
Many (archived) claims (archived) featured allegations that Democrats were against these policies because all House Democrats voted against the budget resolution.
However, while the House of Representatives did pass a budget resolution, this resolution did not provide funding to federal agencies or change tax law. Therefore, it did not and could not abolish taxes on income from tips, overtime work or Social Security.
It followed then, that Democrats were not voting "against" these measures, but rather against the Republican-backed budget resolution as a whole.
Legislators will now begin drafting and proposing bills to meet the targets laid out in the budget resolution. These bills could include cutting taxes on income from tips, overtime work or Social Security, as these were all campaign issues for President Donald Trump.
However, at the time of this writing, these taxes remained and were not altered by the House budget resolution of February 2025.
Resolution promised sweeping savings but made no concrete plans
The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan body that provides analysis to support the Congressional budget process, defines a budget resolution as the following (our emphasis):
A budget resolution is basically a blueprint to guide Congressional action on budget-related legislation over the course of the year. It does not provide funding for federal programs or change tax law; rather, it sets overall spending and revenue targets, sometimes for as many as 10 years. A budget resolution is not a law, because it is not signed by the President; it takes effect if approved by both Houses of Congress.
The changes featured in online claims — no tax on income from tips, overtime work or Social Security — all would need legislation to be altered.
At the time of this writing, there were at least three bills proposing the elimination of taxes on income from tips, but none had become law.
The budget resolution's promises included a savings goal of $2 trillion on mandatory spending over the next 10 years. Mandatory spending is spending mandated by existing laws, for example the Social Security Act that established a system of retirement benefits and benefits for other vulnerable groups.
Trump promises could be realized in later budget bills
Trump first mentioned abolishing taxes as a campaign promise during a rally in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024. He said (at 31:40):
This is the first time I've said this, and to those hotel workers and people that get tips you are going to be very happy, because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips. We are not going to do it, and we are going to do that right away, first thing in office, because it has been a point of contention for years and years and years, and you do a great job of service, you take care of people, and I think it is going to be something that really is deserved.
The president repeated the pledge during a Jan. 25 rally in Las Vegas following his inauguration (at 21:41).
A pledge to abolish tax on overtime work came during a rally in Tucson, Arizona, on Sep. 12, 2024 (at 1:05:25). Trump said:
Today, I'm also announcing that as part of our additional tax cuts, we will end all taxes on overtime. You know what that means? Think of that, think of that, think of that. That gives people more of an incentive to work. It gives the companies a lot, it's a lot easier to get the people.
Similarly, tax on Social Security was a campaign issue for Trump. On July 31, 2024, the then-candidate posted on his Truth Social Network: "SENIORS SHOULD NOT PAY TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY!"
Since then, Republicans have shown they intend to honor this campaign promise by introducing a bill to the effect in the House of Representatives. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who introduced the bill, was the only House Republican to vote against the budget resolution on Feb. 25.
The next step in the budget process is for legislators in the House and Senate to draft and agree on bills to make the plans in the budget resolution into reality. As it stands, it remains to be seen which Trump campaign promises might make it through this process and into law.
Additionally, while the budget resolution does not make any specific changes to taxation income from Social Security, its high savings targets for mandatory spending have led to claims that Medicaid could be hit. We have also reported on claims that the budget resolution includes $880 billion of cuts to Medicaid.