monkeybrains

Can anyone please confirm.
I have not filed a U.S tax return since 2007(last time in the U.S) because I was told that because I was not a U.S citizen and not living in the U.S I did not need to file....I recently made a call to Jackson Hewitt office in the U.S who told me that they had never heard of that before and told me that I must now have them do my taxes from 2007 to 2016 before I can qualify for U.S SS as the SSA will check to see if I owe any back taxes before they will authorize SS payments and if I do owe any back taxes it will be deducted from any future SS payments...?

Disenchanted

I see no reason that not filing a tax return would stop you from qualifying for social security, if you were on a W2 then taxes should have been withheld, part of which would be for SS so you may have enough quarters to qualify for something.

Now if you were on a cash only basis and did not file a tax return declaring the income and pay the taxes you have no SS contributions.

I suggest you go to the SSA website and register there, assuming you have a SS# and you can see where you stand.

Not filing a tax return since 2007 is a totally different matter and you may be in a world of hurt with failure to file penalties, under payment penalties and interest payments.

monkeybrains

I suggest you go to the SSA website and register there.

Tried that....dont have a U.S address so cant complete the application.

monkeybrains

I found this quote number 25 from Nun.

Becoming a US citizen has a lot of tax implications if you ever move outside the US as the US taxes on citizenship as well as residency. If you are just a permanent resident, when you leave the US, you can leave any requirement to file US taxes behind too, you can't if you are a US citizen.
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robin1234

This is true. I assume that the person you spoke to on the phone was confused, mixed up your situation with that of a U.S. citizen who had lived abroad for several years, and does indeed have a continuing tax filing obligation.

You just have to try again, talk to someone different. Or is there a messaging facility? Somewhere to send an email to?

monkeybrains

Yes,I will try again and talk with someone who is experienced with my situation.
Thank you.

Pulaski

He would have to keep on working and contributing to SS, but he appears to be back in the UK, so his number of years of SS contributions is already frozen, and deferring claiming won't help him with WEP.

monkeybrains

Thank you.

katzgar

why would you not talk to SS?

monkeybrains

I have tried contacting them in the UK....not easy,they dont pick up the phone or answering machine says their operators are busy and only open from 10-1pm,Ive just sent them an email.

monkeybrains

I have received an email from the UK dept of the SS today,it says that they will call me within 15-20 days.

katzgar

There is a federal benefits unit at the US Embassy in London not sure what all I do but you might give them a try

PKN

I am a new member here and have managed to read through all 81 pages of this topic but felt it might be worth bringing up a related issue which some of you may have encountered. I am 62 years old and recently cashed in my UK Contracted Out Money Purchase Scheme (COMPS). Despite having a tax code of NT and all of the relevant forms in place to avoid UK taxation in favor of US taxation, the process of cashing out this pension resulted in a withholding of 55% on 75% of the full amount (25% was tax free in the UK). I filed online with HMRC and soon received a P800 which vowed to return an overpayment of taxes which amounted to the balance at a basic rate of 20% and after my UK personal allowance was taken into account but HMRC hung on to about 3000 pounds.
I called them this morning and it was explained that they MUST tax COMPS payment but that I can claim relief for the taxes through the Foreign Earned Income section of my US tax return. At this point, it looks like I will be claiming the total of what they withheld plus the total of my personal allowance.
The subject of taxing lump sum payments has been well covered in this thread but I will off my two cents and say that if it is taxed it is due to a poorly written tax treaty similar to the poorly written rules about WEP......
PKN

PKN

You all might find this neat graphic useful...
http://www.tax-charts.com/charts/894...axation_uk.pdf
PKN

PKN

The latest update on WEP - doesn't sound too hopeful but I did mail him to seek clarification on whether the proposed measures will impact out "WEPability"
Steve
Social Security Intelligence - Social Security Benefits Made Easy