Wage Tax Refund Petition Tax Year . % .: Fill & Download for Free

TL; DR: Social Security offers overseas direct deposit for beneficiaries. There is no need to travel to the US to apply for or pick up benefits.More information can be found by reading the SSA booklet on payments outside the US, found here: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10137.pdf (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10137.pdf)However, if you're one of the many Indian citizens working in the US on H-1B, you may wish to read further for additional information and my answer may dispel many myths you may have heard about foreign workers and Social Security retirement benefits.Provided one is fully qualified by having 40 quarters of coverage (generally 10 years of work), they can draw a retirement benefit. In the past, foreign workers who chose not to pursue LPR status didn’t remain in the US long enough to earn 40 SSA work quarters. However, with the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act, this has changed, primarily for India-born workers who cannot get LPR status in a timely manner because of the diversity cap in Sec 202(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Those workers with an approved I-140 petition can remain in H-1B status indefinitely. These same workers are going to be the ones who are most likely to work long enough to qualify for a retirement benefit while at the same time not being LPRs or citizens of the US.How does the quarter of coverage system work? Below is a table showing the amount of Social Security taxable income that one must earn in a given year to get one quarter of coverage:A maximum of four quarters can be earned in a given year. For 2020, once one has earned $5,640, they have earned their four quarters for the year. For a person earning six figures, they’ll earn this by the end of January. The amount a quarter is worth may not seem like much, but when one looks at a person earning the federal minimum wage working 40 hours per week, it will take them five months (20 weeks) of full time work to earn four quarters. The best way to determine SSA taxed earnings is by looking at one’s W-2:Box 3 will show the wages that were taxed for Social Security. So long as this amount is over the value for four work quarters, one has earned all their quarters for that year.The tax deduction on one’s paycheck can have many names. It can be ‘Social Security’, however other acronyms used are OASDI, FICA (the law that mandates payroll taxes for Social Security contributions and Medicare) and SSDI (which refers to the disability benefit only.) Depending on how an employer chooses to list deductions, they may be broken out into the 6.2% Social Security amount and the 1.45% Medicare amount or they may be lumped together at 7.65% of income subject to these taxes. Both the employer and the employee contribute an equal amount. Self employed persons who are sole proprietors (Schedule C) will pay both portions or 15.3%; this is commonly called the self-employment tax, but it is the same tax employees pay, just twice as much to account for the fact the the self employed person is also their own employer.Do not confuse Social Security retirement and disability benefits with the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which is also administered by the Social Security Administration. It is a separate welfare program for US citizens and certain LPRs. It cannot be paid to beneficiaries who live outside the US. SSI is means tested and for the disabled and elderly who are very poor and have no or little other income and resources of their own.Another confusion is company retirement plans like 401(k)s. These plans are private. Every plan is different and rules vary. Normally contributions to these plans are refunded to the contributor if they have not become vested by contributing for the required minimum period of time. If one is forced to cash out a 401(k), they need to see a financial planner or accountant if they are not aware of the pitfalls of cashing out a 401(k) before one is 59 1/2 and/or taking the money out all at one. Read one’s 401(k) literature carefully.Edit: There is a lot of disinformation out there. If one wants to comment that my answer is incorrect or a reply to a comment is incorrect, they must post links to original research, not links to discussion groups or hearsay anecdotal evidence, news articles, etc. I will not allow the comments to this answer to be used to spread disinformation.I am open to learning new information or a correction from what my own original research has found, but such information must be substantiated. Any contrary comments without valid citations will be deleted. You have been warned - my answer, my rules.Currently, according to the Social Security Administration, there is exists no treaty, or totalization agreement, between the US and India regarding social security benefits or contributions. U.S. International Social Security AgreementsA person must contribute to Social Security and earn 40 work quarters (10 years) to be insured for a retirement benefit. Generally, H-1B status can last a maximum of six years. However, the AC-21 Act allows H-1B status to be extended indefinitely, thus it is possible for certain H-1B workers to meet the 40 quarter requirement. AC21 generally benefits those foreign workers with an approved I-140 petition but who cannot apply permanent residence yet due to the artificial backlog created by INA Sec. 202(a)(2). Those affected are mostly India-born.Please do not contribute to the disinformation that already exists. Do original research on the law for yourself, do not rely on the Internet or even my own answer. Every person’s case is unique; what applies to one may not apply to all.Edit #2: Please do not confuse the Supplemental Security Income program (SSI) with Social Security retirement benefits, referred to by many acronyms such as SSDI and OASDI. FICA is the law that mandates payroll deduction of the taxes for OASDI and Medicare. These are separate programs. SSI is a welfare benefit available only to US citizens and in limited circumstances, LPRs. SSI is means tested and is designed for those with no income or resources who cannot work for medical reasons or have reached retirement age. This is not the program I'm talking about.Edit #3: Moved some information in the prior edits into the main answer and reorganized the answer for easier reading. 25K plus views! I hope all those who have read are much better informed about Social Security than they were.Edit #4: Added information about how SSA work quarters are earned. This answer is getting really long, however I’m adding information based on questions raised in the comments. I’ve also done more revising and reorganization to shorten the answer.Edit #5: Added information that 401(k) plans and other company offered retirement savings plans are private and have nothing to do with Social Security.

If you file an IRS Form 8379 - Injured Spouse Allocation with your joint tax return, you will automatically receive your portion of the federal tax refund. If you do not, then as much as the entire refund amount will be applied to his child support arrears.Most states have a similar form to accomplish the same end that is required with the state return. Some require a copy of the IRS Form 8379 to be attached to the state return as well.You can opt to file the Form 8379 separately from the tax return, but there is a potential for the forms to be processed at different times and the Injured Spouse Allocation to not be made. It is best to file it with the annual tax return. It will take longer to process the tax return, (IRS estimates 11–14 weeks) but at least you will be assured of receiving your portion of any refund due.If your husband is the only wage earner and the only one contributing to tax withholdings, your portion of the allocation would be zero and the entire refund amount could be assigned (taken) to repay the outstanding child support judgement.Conversely, if you worked and contributed the bulk of the tax withholdings or made estimated tax payments toward your tax obligations on other income and he paid just the right amount of tax withholding to cover the taxes on his income, then you (as a couple) would receive almost, if not all, of the tax refund.The default for refund checks is one check for a couple filing a joint return. However, if you include Form 8379 with your return the default is separate checks. There is a box you can check on Form 8379 to a joint check issued to the parties. The amount of the allocation is computed on the Form 8379, so you will know how much of the refund amount is “yours” and how much is “his.” If his back child support is large enough, there will be no “his” portion included in a joint check or no “his” check issued to him if you opt for separate checks.It is possible to use “married filing separately” and “head of household” filing statuses, depending on your family circumstances and the existence of children living in your home, but most of the time “married filing separately” is required for both spouses if one spouse choses that option. The tax rates are higher, the deductions are lower and many credits and other tax minimizing strategies are disallowed when opting for “married filing separately” tax status. It is only recommended when illegal or fraudulent income tax filings are being made by one of the parties to a marriage - though some couples opt to pay the higher taxes and use the filing status for other reasons.If you want to avoid having the tax refund being used to pay down the child support arrears, then your husband should adjust his withholding allowances to have just less than his tax obligation withheld through the year. You will still need to file Form 8379 to get a refund of any excess taxes withheld from your income.Judging from some of the other answers it is also possible to petition for a refund of the amount attributed to your income and paid by the IRS to the Child Support Collection Unit in some states. That option is not available in all states - and sounds like it is not always successful.

If you can’t afford an attorney you don’t get one. Unless it’s a criminal charge you need representation on. There are no free attorneys for anything but criminal cases.You need to go to the courthouse and talk to the court clerk’s office and ask them how to file a petition to request a review of your child support.If your child support goes through the state office of child support you’ll need to call them instead.I will tell you though, most cases that go for review end up with the absent parent having to pay more child support when it’s all said and done.I will tell you that unless you lost your job and have been out of work for a while with no prospects of a job in your professional career then your child support won’t be reduced.For instance, if you have income tax refunds for the past 10 years where you make $150K and now you’re claiming that you can’t find a job for more than minimum wage the judge is going to laugh you out of court.If you have income potential but it appears you have just stopped working or aren’t looking then the judge won’t feel any sympathy for you.SO make sure this is what you want to do before moving forward. You don’t need an attorney at all. Child support isn’t something you take an attorney with you for. The judge will want your income tax paperwork, probably for the last few years, then they’ll calculate what it’s supposed to be for the state guidelines and then that’s what it will be. There aren’t really any laws or extenuating situations that will sway the support to go up or down.