Amendment 87 won’t stop at the wealthy, no matter how it’s advertised

By Nash Herman | Complete Colorado

Taxation on Social Security benefits has not been adjusted for inflation since 1984, meaning a policy once meant to tax wealthier recipients now affects a rising share of Coloradans.   

Sound familiar? With Amendment 87, this ‘bracket creep’ problem will become familiar to more Coloradans than just the wealthy, despite how it is advertised. 

Social Security bracket creep

For single-filer Social Security recipients whose combined Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), plus nontaxable interest, plus one-half of their Social Security benefit is above $25,000, 50 percent of their benefits will be taxable; above $34,000, 85 percent is then taxable. 

This might have actually made sense when Colorado’s average annual benefit for retired workers was $10,848 in 2003. 

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