Social Security and Medicare Deduction from Payroll

[Reba]

The US and Canada have an agreement that other countries don't. I do believe that any contributions made to Social Security, can be gained even after one has moved back to Canada. You won't get them until after legal retirement age (which in the US keeps going up, and they're thinking about raising again!), but she should be able to have access to it, and it can be added to her CPP payments when she's eligible.

[Steven]

There's a totalization agreement (i.e. you get the total of your CPP and Social Security contributions) between the US and Canada, just make sure the Canadian and US authorities know your current address and through the years you've filed all the right tax paperwork at the right time.

If you look on the SSA website there is a detailed description of how it works.

What visa you're on isn't really all that important, this is a tax issue.

[dannykool]

Hi All,

In regards to this Social Security deductions. My wife is on a H1B, will she be entitled to these earnings when she retires one day ? Whether it be in US or Canada? Only reason I'm asking is because I know a few Indian people(H1B holders) that were sent back to India and lost all their deductions. I guess as Canadians, these work visas really don't make a difference in terms of social security, correct ?

thanks!

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I know a few H1B's too who were sent back and they were trying to get the Social Security Deductions back and probably did.

Based on the agreement between Canada and USA, I think it should be easy to get the benefits, but this is assuming you do end up in Canada. I am not sure, for instance what happens if one ends up in Australia, for instance. I think that as long as one is a Canadian, it should not matter whether one has a Canadian address or not. If you have a Canadian address, it should not be a problem at all.