| Author |
Message |
Barry Margolin
Guest
|
 Posted:
Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:00 am Post subject:
Re: Why do I pay Medicare tax? Do I have to? |
|
|
"Tony" <tonkoj@gmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | If I will eventually receive any Medicare benefits how does
that work, if at all, if I am physically located in another
country?
|
You won't in that case. You already seem to know that, you
said so in your very first post.
--
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Just Cocky
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:00 am Post subject:
Re: Why do I pay Medicare tax? Do I have to? |
|
|
Tony" <tonkoj@gmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | But SS tax, after enough credits qualifies me for receiving
SS checks when I retire.
|
Unless the Law changes. If the Law changes, you may very
well end up not getting anything.
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >> |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tony
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:00 am Post subject:
Re: Why do I pay Medicare tax? Do I have to? |
|
|
L K Williams wrote:
| Quote: | ...
As to paying the Medicare tax now, think of it this way: If
you were able to avoid the tax now, on the grounds you
planned to retire abroad, what would happen if, for any
reason, you did NOT leave the country? In other words, how
can the SSA know what will happen when you do reach
retirement age?
...
|
Thanks, I am finally getting answers that I hoped for. Now
that somebody well informed tells me to forget about the
Medicare, we can talk theory and personal opinions.
Right, SSA can not know what will happen when you reach
retirement age but SSA *does not penalize you today* for
living in a different country when it comes to receiving
Social Security checks.
At least not in the sense that you can forget about it
altogether, right? I mean, you wrote that you youself
receive SS checks.
So I'm actually fine with being taxed now. The title of this
post turned out to be unintentionally too provocative.
But I still claim that there is the obvious and significant
difference between Medicare and Social Security tax - both
make you eligible for something, but one eventually pays, no
matter where you happen to be located, another doesn't.
And IMO, the reason for this difference is also obvious:
when you are retired and you receive your SS check you get
it from the government and government gets that money from
people paying SS taxes at that time.
With Medicare things are different because, in the end,
somebody has to be payed for some services. There are
doctors and hospitals involved. Arranging for it across the
borders of different countries is much more difficult and
nobody really wants to mess with it. Once abroad you are a
minority and you can praise Lord if you happen to be getting
SS checks at all, let alone reimbursements for medical
expenses in another country.
Tony
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tom Russ
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:00 am Post subject:
Re: Why do I pay Medicare tax? Do I have to? |
|
|
Tony wrote:
| Quote: | There is an important difference here between SS tax
qualifying you for *something* upon retirement, and no
matter where I decide to live, and Medicare tax qualifying
me for *nothing*.
Now, why would Medicare tax be different just because I
moved to a diffierent country?
|
Well, it's not like the Medicare tax would be any different
from any number of other taxes that you pay. Income tax
doesn't qualify you for anything in particular.
Now if you retire you won't have to pay an Medicare tax.
You would still be required to pay income taxes. But a lot
of what you pay the income taxes for wouldn't really help
you in another country. The FBI is not there to
investigate, disaster relief and small business loans aren't
available outside the country. You aren't protected by FDA
or securities regulators, etc. You would be paying income
taxes and not gaining any direct benefit other than consular
representation and some general protection based on US
military power.
That hardly seems any different.
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >> |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gil Faver
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:57 pm Post subject:
Re: Why do I pay Medicare tax? Do I have to? |
|
|
"Just Cocky" <just@cocky.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Tony" <tonkoj@gmail.com> wrote:
But SS tax, after enough credits qualifies me for
receiving SS checks when I retire.
Unless the Law changes. If the Law changes, you may very
well end up not getting anything.
|
UNTIL the law changes.
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >> |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gil Faver
Guest
|
| Posted:
Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:16 am Post subject:
Re: Why do I pay Medicare tax? Do I have to? |
|
|
| Quote: | However, I have a difficulty imagining a court or even
public a opinion poll that would vote in favor of paying
Medicare benefits to U.S. citizen who (somehow) managed to
never ever contribute a $ to Medicare tax, in all his
working life in the U.S.
|
most people pay little or no taxes, compared with the upper
10 or 20 percent of the taxpayers (taxpayers, not
population), and the majority seems quite content with
spending the minority's money. Likewise with politicians.
| Quote: | Alternativelly, take example of EU - as an EU citizen who
paid Medicare taxes in one country, you can still get some
benefits from that fact, even if living in another EU
country.
|
U.S. means "United States". A U.S. citizen who paid
Medicare taxes in one of the states will still get benefits
from that fact, even if living in another US state. But,
just like an EU citizen who leaves the EU, a US citizen who
leaves the US will not get medicare benefits.
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >> |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tony
Guest
|
| Posted:
Thu Nov 10, 2005 9:00 am Post subject:
Re: Why do I pay Medicare tax? Do I have to? |
|
|
Shyster1040 wrote:
| Quote: | Does that help at all?
|
Yes, yours was very detailed answer and AFAIAC it certainly
cleared a lot of confusion.
Thanks, Tony
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only >>
<< and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting >>
<< messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >> |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
Memberlist
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in