Dear Sir or Madam,

I came to US as a student. After I graduated from university, I've worked under H1b status from Oct. 15, 2004 to Feb. 12, 2006. However, on Feb. 18, 2006 I left US permanently, and no longer work and retire in US. So my questions will be:
1. Am I eligible to claim the Social Security and Medicare tax back for the tax year 2005?
2. What forms should I use to claim if it is OK?

Appreciate your time and timely reply.

Yours sincerely,

Sandy

My Dear Friend,
Unfortunately, you will not get your money back. Money paid on Social Security and Medicare does not accumulate in your account (unlike 401(k) plan).
If a worker on H1B visa works in US for certain time and goes back to home country, he/she has to forfeit the money. There are some exception but for that you would have to work in US for 10 year to qualify.

I was also shocked when I learned this. You might want to check with your tax consultant or immigration lawyer as I am also another H1B holder trying to get some answers.

You can find more details about this at the following article:

http://www.path2usa.com/money/tax_related/ss_tax101.htm

Good luck,

Thank you very much for your timely response. It doesn't make any sense to me, but I will try to see if I can claim any thing back. Thanks again.

Sandy

Sandy:

Sorry, but Rikin is correct. Social Security and Medicare taxes paid while on H-1B status is forfeited if you do not work and pay taxes for 40 quarters (ten years).

AtlantaTAXexpert,

I have a question in your response: Does this 10 years of working in US count only if a person works 10 STRAIGHT years? Or a person can go back to home country and can come back few years later to finish remaining years to reach total of 10?

Also, after this 10 year (40 Credit) service is fulfilled, in what form a person can claim the Social Security and Medicare Taxes? Can he/she simply ask for refund? Or 10 year eligibility simply means that the person is qualified to receive the Social Security benefits from US after he/she retires in any contry?

Thanks in Advance,
-rikin.

Why don't you swipe couple of credit cards buy gold and not repay them.

All you need is your money back from USA... right ?

The ten years of work credits do NOT have to be consecutive years.

Once you qualify, it does not matter WHERE you are located.

Can we just take the money out of USA credit cards.

Basically we need money back and let credit card companies from USA bear the expense.

Bhaarathm:

What you are advising is credit card fraud, a violation of the law which is punishable by fines and jail time.

I am assuming User is not planning to come back to USA. Let him get back his money and go back home with his hard earned money.

IT is silly that US has imposed those taxes on him/her when they are working on a temporary basis.

Tit for tat.

What you are proposing has NOTHING to do with taxes.

You are recommending that the OP perform a criminal act, something is just as illegal in OP's home country as it is in the U.S. probably with significantly more severe consequences.

Further, you are assuming that tax policy is "fair", which is a fallacy in and of itself, because fairness has been, and always will be, a matter of perspective and thus subjective in nature,