Hi, I have a question about paying SS and Medicare taxes on OPT status.

I came from Japan for a gruaduate school in NYC in August 2005, and started the OPT status since 5/21/07.

My current employee (not for profit organization) is not knowledgeable in employing foreigners, and does not know about tax exempt. They told me to obtain a social security card that clarifies that I am an alian, which I do not think is what should be done, reading the comments here.

I understand that submitting Form 843 with the following is neccesary:

A copy of your Form W-2 to prove the amount of social security and Medicare taxes withheld.

A copy of your visa.

Form I-94 (Arrival-Departure Record).

If you have an F-1 visa, Form I-20.

If you have a J-1 visa, Form DS-2019.

If you are engaged in optional practical training, Form I-766 or Form I-688B.

A statement from your employer indicating the amount of the reimbursement your employer provided and the amount of the credit or refund your employer claimed or you authorized your employer to claim. If you cannot obtain this statement from your employer, you must provide this information on your own statement and explain why you are not attaching a statement from your employer or on Form 8316 claiming your employer will not issue the refund.

I have gotten married in November 2006 with an American citizen, but have not applied for green card at this point yet. Does this change my status of being exempt from paying tax? When I fill in the forms above, should the date of marriage be the last date of being exempt, or should the date of application of green card, or should the date I receive green card be the date of expiration of exempt?

Thank you.:)

One question: HOW did you file your 2006 tax return?

If you filed jointly with your wife in 2006, then do not bother to file the Form 843, because, by filing jointly, you CHOSE to be treated as a resident alien for ALL of 2006. That resident alien status carries over for 2007, thus you WERE liable for Social Security and Medicare taxes. Hence, though your employer did it for the WRONG reasons, they did the CORRECT thing by withholding the Social Security and Medicare taxes.

BTW, do not think about filing an amended return for 2006 to go back and UNFILE your joint return and file a non-resident alien return, because filing jointly is an IRREVOCABLE decision.

If you filed as a NON-resident alien for 2006, you must do the SAME for 2007 in order to file Form 843 and claim the FICA tax refund.

Have a nice day!

Thank you for a prompt response!

I mistyped an important info... I got married in November 2007.
I'm so sorry!

So I guess I can still claim for my SS and Medicare tax for 2007 back?
My husband and I (I am the wife;) ) live in different locations at this time and are not going to file tax return together this year. So, I will submit mine as alian.

I will file as a resident after I receive the status of permanent resident, which should be this summer, but before that, I can claim those taxes back, am I correct?

In that case, in filing tax return for 2008 next year, I can claim the SS and Medicare tax back until the date my permanent residency is issued? In this case, am I required to submit two different documents claiming for SS and Medicare tax return until my green card is issued, and also claiming for non-SS and Medicare tax return after that together?

Okay, then you want to file as a non-resident alien in 2007, because you WANT to get those FICA taxes back.

As for 2008, tell your employer that you are EXEMPT from these taxes as long as you are on OPT, and request they refund any withheld FICA taxes for 2007 and 2008.

It's probably too late for 2007, but there should be no problem getting the 2008 taxes refunded.

Once you get a green card or once you convert to a work visa (H-1 or H-1B), you become liable for FICA taxes on the date the new visa or green card becomes effective. Prior to that, you are exempt and these taxes should NOT be withheld.

Thank you so much for your help!
I feel so much more relieved than getting confused with the information.

Is there any extra type of procedure that my employee has to follow in order to deduct my tax? Such as filing any documents to IRS themselves, report to IRS in any way, or can they simply deduct my tax without any notification to the government?

Your employer files a quarterly employment tax return (Form 941), under which he identifies how much was paid (payments are done monthly or, for large corporations, weekly). It offers a chance to correct errors that may have been made in the collection and payment process.

When the employer submits the W-2, the payments made over the year are then credited to the employee's individual Social Security and Medicare accounts.

All this is transparent to the employee. All the employee sees is the money being withheld from his pay check.

Often, employers who are strapped for operating capital will delay payment of these taxes. This usually ends up getting the employer in hot water with the IRS, because they take a rather dim view of such practices. The penalties imposed for late payment of employment taxes can exceed 100% of the tax due.