Government Retiree Credit

[RRWHITE]

Are Teachers Considered Government Retirees In Determining This Credit? I Have Been Unable To Find Clarification On This Issue. Does Anyone Know?

[origun]

It depends on the state

In some states (e.g., my state of Oregon) teachers contribute to Social Security (as well as PERS--the state retirement system) so don't qualify for the Government Retiree Credit. In other (such as California, at least in the past) they don't contribute to Social Security and only receive a pension from CalPERS so would qualify for the credit--unless they have other employment which qualifies them for Social Security.

[RRWHITE]

State Of Ohio Does Not Pay Into Social Security So I Believe They Should Qualify For The Credit And After Reading In Pub 963 I Believe That Teachers Are Considered Government Employees.

[S T]

Calif

California has two systems for teachers

One is STRS - and they do not receive social security unless it was from some prior work credits - so "most" STRS retirees qualified for the government retirees credit - a handful received Social Security Benefit enough to cover their Medicare Premiums - so those received the $250 from SSA

The other is Cal Pers and they do receive social security benefits.- so most all of these did receive the $ 250 from SSA

It has been a great joy dealing with the Schedule M on the California teachers this year.

Sandy

[taxea]

S T not exactly

Not all PERS employees pay into SS. Some time in the 80's, I think it was, local law enforcement, fire and other city/county/state employees tied to PERS retirement had the opportunity to opt out of SS. Some of the agencies required majority rule for all employees other's allowed majority rule on the vote by department. The result is that many PERS employees since that time may not have any SS unless they have been employed elsewhere before and after their employment with PERS agencies.