Should a K1 immigrant pay FICA taxes?

[payxibka 10,045]

The correction of the underpayment in fica is the responsibility of the employer.   They need figure out a settlement plan with you should they choose to recover your share from you

[Mike E 11,739]

Not every W-2 employee in the USA pays fica. I’ve certainly had jobs where I paid zero fica while getting a w-2.  
 

It would help to know who your employer is.  
 

Does your spouse work?

Edited March 21, 2020 by Mike E

[david221g 20]

21 hours ago, Mike E said:

Not every W-2 employee in the USA pays fica. I’ve certainly had jobs where I paid zero fica while getting a w-2.  
 

It would help to know who your employer is.  
 

Does your spouse work?

My spouse is an American citizen who works a full position and pays FICA.

As for me, I'm a K1 immigrant who worked with an EAD until I received my GC.

 

Why wouldnt I pay FICA?

As far as I know, K1 or Green Card holders are not exempt

Edited March 22, 2020 by david221g

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, david221g said:

My spouse is an American citizen who works a full position and pays FICA.

As for me, I'm a K1 immigrant who worked with an EAD until I received my GC.

 

Why wouldnt I pay FICA?

As far as I know, K1 or Green Card holders are not exempt

The reason you owe Income taxes is because you have a two income household. Let’s say you are both in the 10 percent tax bracket but your combined income puts you in the next highest bracket.  Then because you are both having tax withheld at the 10 percent bracket you are both under with holding.  The simple fix is to change your W-4s to a marriage status of single.  There are more complex fixes.  
 

Again knowing whom you work for would help me to explain why your employer does not deduct fica from a our paycheck. You should have been looking at your pay stubs.  
 

If you don’t want to say whom you work for. I cannot help you. Have a good day.  

Edited March 22, 2020 by Mike E

[Wuozopo 4,293]

43 minutes ago, Mike E said:

The reason you owe Income taxes is because you have a two income household. Let’s say you are both in the 10 percent tax bracket but your combined income puts you in the next highest bracket.  Then because you are both having tax withheld at the 10 percent bracket you are both under with holding.  The simple fix is to change your W-4s to a marriage status of single.  There are more complex fixes.  
 

Again knowing whom you work for would help me to explain why your employer does not deduct fica from a our paycheck. You should have been looking at your pay stubs.  
 

If you don’t want to say whom you work for. I cannot help you. Have a good day.  

Mike E

If you would read the whole thread, he has figured it out. He doesn’t have to tell you his employer. He will take it up with payroll folks on Monday. 

[Mike E 11,739]

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

Mike E

If you would read the whole thread, he has figured it out. He doesn’t have to tell you his employer. He will take it up with payroll folks on Monday. 

I did read the whole thread.  He hasn’t figured itmout.  
 

You are right he doesn’t have to tell me sweet ####### all.  And he doesn’t need to get helped either.  

[david221g 20]

14 hours ago, Mike E said:

I did read the whole thread.  He hasn’t figured itmout.  
 

You are right he doesn’t have to tell me sweet ####### all.  And he doesn’t need to get helped either.  

Hi Mike,

 

Thanks for replying.

 

As Wuozopo said, I fully understand why we owe $7.5k in Federal Tax, we both under-withheld taxes.

When I posted, I was less informed, and thought the $7.5K was because I didnt pay FICA. This was wrong since FICA doesn't affect Federal Tax.

 

Now I can refine my question as to "why my employer didnt pay FICA"?

Obviously I don't want to reveal my employer's name, also because it is irrelevant imo (let's say i work in a standard hedge fund in NY).

 

I actually sent my HR department all of those question and got the following answer-

"While you were on your VISA you were not required to FICA, but once you received the GC, you need to pay FICA."

They are still working on it...

 

Edited March 23, 2020 by david221g

[geowrian 22,337]

19 minutes ago, david221g said:

While you were on your VISA you were not required to FICA, but once you received the GC, you need to pay FICA.

Yeah....no. They just goofed.

IIRC, the only visa classes that don't have FICA withheld are F-1, J-1, M-1, Q-1 or Q-2.

See https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/withholding_and_reporting_of_tax_on_wage_payments_to_foreign_persons.pdf

[Mike E 11,739]

1 hour ago, david221g said:

 

Obviously I don't want to reveal my employer's name,

 

It isn't irrelevant because depending on the situation, the employee doesn't pay FICA. I've had jobs in the USA where I paid zero FICA (and zero SE tax).

 

I will only note that holding a K-1 visa has nothing to do with whether you pay FICA or not.

 

>> also because it is irrelevant imo (let's say i work in a standard hedge fund in NY).

 

And let's say I'm done with this thread. Good luck.

[geowrian 22,337]

Revealing the employer's name may be exposing quite a bit of personally identifying information (PII).

For example, if the employer only has 10 employees then there is a good chance somebody can reasonably identify the individual by just looking up the company online.

I know if I revealed my employer's name, it would very likely lead somebody to my full name, photo, email, etc.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, david221g said:

I actually sent my HR department all of those question and got the following answer-

"While you were on your VISA you were not required to FICA, but once you received the GC, you need to pay FICA."

They are still working on it...

Like I had said earlier, they probably (mistakenly) thought your K1 was one of the visa’s that didn’t require FICA. It’s pretty common for people not to know what to do with K1 because it just doesn’t fit the mold..

 

2 hours ago, geowrian said:

Yeah....no. They just goofed.

 

I agree geowrian.