About Social Security, and Medicare Tax

[mike103]

One of my friends has worked for ABC company for x years with H1B, and he has never paid Social Security, and Medicare Tax. As I talked to him, he told me that Social Security, and Medicare is optional, you can choose to pay, or not. Is that right?
If the employer did not pay Social Security, and Medicare for its employees, what is the consequence could be?
Thanks.

 

[asdasd]

???

Never heard of this before.....

But if it is true.....I have no clue how it will affect the GC..
I dont think it should....

 

[patience=gc]

On H1B you are responsible for Medicare and SS

Hi,

This happened to me exactly last year. I was told by several accountants that as a H1B holder we are considered to the IRS the same as a Permanent Resident. In other words to the eyes of the IRS you are a Permanent resident and should therefore contribute to SS and Medicare but to the eyes of the INS you are a non-immigrant. It is unfair and confusing but you can find more information here...

IRS Publication 519:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf

In my case I had to pay the SS and medicare I had not paid all the time I was on H1B (not on F1 or Practical Training) and my company had to do the same for this time period.

The risk of not doing it? IRS decides to look at your records and notices you have not contributed and will ask you for the money.

Hope this helps!

 

[YJay]

You can't skip it

if you are on H-1B no matter where you are from.

A person working on H-1B without paying taxes is untrue.

Please note, J-1 holders from some countries may be exempted fom SS and Med. tax.

 

[RCYC1]

yes

you need to pay these taxes. H1B is the same status as GC for tax purposes.

your pal owes some back taxes. which he or she should work on getting resolved with the IRS pretty soon.

hasn't this person filed tax returns? and unless they had the wrong status in their tax documentation, they should have been pulled up by the IRS each year.

 

[twilo2000]

About SS

Its in your best interest to pay SS taxes because if something happens to you tomorrow (god forbid) without SS no one is going to take care of you.

Regarding not paying SS... I know people who studied here and have OPT (Practical Training) they dont pay SS taxes. But I strongly recommend paying the taxes because it serves as an insurance premium if something bad happens to you. For example: My ss statement says that since I have been paying the taxes for the last 5 years I have enough to cover about $3500/month for the rest of my life should I get into an accident.

 

[swsrus]

I agree with twilo2000

If the intent is to stay longer in the U.S , it is to your friend's benefit that the SS tax and medicare taxes are paid. The wordings that leads one to believe that an employer provides social security or medicare benefits look incorrect. I believe it is the government that provides the benefits once a person becomes eligible to receive the same. Will it affect the GC filing?the only link I see is when we submit the tax related information along with the I-485 application. What if IRS refuses to give a clean chit to your friend?

This is not legal advice/ opinion.