The Treasury Department says more than 64 million federal tax returns claimed at least one of four new deductions created under the tax law President Trump signed, a first full-season count of how many households actually used the provisions rather than how many were merely eligible. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave the figure in written testimony delivered to a congressional committee, tying it to breaks aimed at tipped and hourly workers, car buyers, and older taxpayers. Each of the four provisions carries its own dollar cap and income phase-out, so the size of the write-off on any one return depends heavily on which of the four a filer actually qualifies for.
The 64 Million Returns Treasury Counted
In a statement submitted to the House Committee on Financial Services on September 15, 2026, Bessent said “over 64 million tax returns claimed at least one of President Trump’s signature new tax cuts—No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, no tax on American car loan interest, and an enhanced deduction for low- and middle-income seniors.” The same statement puts a dollar figure on the payout side: “through Tax Day, working families received over $325 billion in refunds,” a number Bessent presented as proof the four provisions were reaching filers’ checks rather than sitting unused on a return. Treasury’s release does not break the 64 million total down by which of the four provisions individual filers claimed, so the figure describes returns that used at least one, not necessarily all four. Bessent’s own wording — refunds “through Tax Day” — also marks the count as a mid-season snapshot rather than a final tally; returns filed on extension after the April deadline are not reflected in either the 64 million or the $325 billion figure as Treasury has reported them so far.
Inside the planner: The senior deduction Treasury counted among the 64 million claims sits next to a provisional-income calculator and an RMD-schedule calculator, the pair of numbers that decide how much of a Social Security check gets taxed and when a required retirement-account withdrawal is due. Open The Retirement Tax & Withdrawal Planner.
No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime, By the Numbers
Two of the four provisions Treasury named come with specific dollar ceilings the agency has separately published. For tips, the IRS’s own guidance on the law says the “maximum annual deduction is $25,000,” available to workers “in certain qualified occupations, such as wait staff, bartenders, salon workers, personal trainers, gig economy workers” who “customarily and regularly receive tips,” and it applies whether or not a filer itemizes. The overtime deduction caps out lower, at “$12,500 ($25,000 for joint filers)” a year, also without needing to itemize. Both provisions “phase out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $150,000 ($300,000 for joint filers),” per the same IRS guidance, and both apply starting with tips and overtime pay earned in the 2025 tax year. Anyone still drawing a paycheck alongside Social Security — a common arrangement for people who claimed benefits early or kept a part-time job into retirement — falls within the population these two provisions were written for, though the car-loan-interest deduction Bessent also named applies more narrowly, to interest paid on a loan for an American-assembled vehicle.
The Enhanced Deduction for Seniors
The fourth provision Bessent named, “an enhanced deduction for low- and middle-income seniors,” is the one most directly aimed at this audience, and the IRS has published its own separate figures for it. Under the IRS’s eligibility guidance, “individuals age 65 and older may claim an additional $6,000 deduction,” or “$12,000 for a married couple if both spouses qualify,” on top of the existing standard deduction for seniors rather than in place of it. The deduction “phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $75,000; $150,000 for joint filers,” and the IRS says it runs “effective 2025 through 2028,” meaning it is not a permanent fixture of the tax code the way the doubled Child Tax Credit is described in Bessent’s statement. The senior deduction does not change whether a Social Security benefit itself is taxable; a filer can claim the full $6,000 and still owe tax on benefits depending on other income.
Bessent’s Report to the House Financial Services Committee
Bessent delivered the figures as testimony, not as a standalone press release, framing the tax provisions as one part of a broader economic report to lawmakers. The same statement adds that “more than 40 million families have claimed the permanently doubled and expanded Child Tax Credit,” a separate figure covering a different tax break aimed at families with children rather than the four provisions counted in the 64 million total. Treasury has not said when it will next update either count, leaving the September 15 testimony as the most current official tally of both figures. The House Financial Services Committee more often hears from Treasury on banking regulation and financial stability than on individual tax provisions, which is part of why Bessent’s written statement folds the tax-cut numbers into a broader economic report rather than issuing them as a standalone Treasury press release the way an IRS filing-season update typically would.
The Senior Deduction Still Needs Its Own Math
Treasury’s count shows the enhanced deduction for low- and middle-income seniors was one of the year’s most-claimed tax breaks, but the release that reported it never walks through how that deduction interacts with a Social Security benefit that may already be partly taxable, a Medicare premium tier set by a prior year’s income, or a required withdrawal already due from a retirement account. Those calculations sit outside what any Treasury count is built to answer.
The Retirement Tax & Withdrawal Planner works through the senior deduction alongside the account withdrawal order, showing how the deduction lowers a taxable return and which account a retirement withdrawal should come from first.
See how the senior deduction fits with retirement-account withdrawals in The Retirement Tax & Withdrawal Planner.
This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
