EIN for German form of Social Security

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  • Bonnie
    Senior Member
    • Jan 2007
    • 568

    #1

    EIN for German form of Social Security

    Client this week brought his mother in law who draws pension type income from Germany similar to our Social Security. He had form the German government had mailed to her. She has social security number and wanted to file tax return because she needs to for health insurance she bought through the Marketplace to reconcile what she paid last year. She has no taxable income so other than the health insurance issue she would not need to file. She had the 1095 with the amounts. Of course the paperwork from Germany has no EIN so return will not E-file. Has anyone else ever dealt with one of these. In over 20 years, I've never seen one before. My client seems to think the IRS has a special number to use to file this income. So thought I'd ask here if anyone has heard of such.
  • momona
    Member
    • Jun 2010
    • 60

    #2
    I have a client who receives pension income from Japan. I just report it as other income. No special number and have had no problem. I think the IRS is more worried when you under-report; not when you over-report income.

    Comment

    • ATSMAN
      Senior Member
      • Jul 2013
      • 2415

      #3
      Originally posted by Bonnie
      Client this week brought his mother in law who draws pension type income from Germany similar to our Social Security. He had form the German government had mailed to her. She has social security number and wanted to file tax return because she needs to for health insurance she bought through the Marketplace to reconcile what she paid last year. She has no taxable income so other than the health insurance issue she would not need to file. She had the 1095 with the amounts. Of course the paperwork from Germany has no EIN so return will not E-file. Has anyone else ever dealt with one of these. In over 20 years, I've never seen one before. My client seems to think the IRS has a special number to use to file this income. So thought I'd ask here if anyone has heard of such.
      Before you do anything, please check the tax treaty between US and Germany. I believe it is somewhere in the irs website.
      Taxes after all are the dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society. - FDR

      Comment

      • BOB W
        Senior Member
        • Jun 2005
        • 4061

        #4
        I treat my client's England SS equivalent the same as US SS. No ID needed. I report it in the SS tab. Never had a problem, 10yrs or more.
        This post is for discussion purposes only and should be verified with other sources before actual use.

        Many times I post additional info on the post, Click on "message board" for updated content.

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        • Gretel
          Senior Member
          • Jun 2005
          • 4008

          #5
          Dito, with German SS. Follows the same rules as US SS. My clients actually gets SS from both countries.

          Comment

          • FEDUKE404
            Senior Member
            • May 2007
            • 3648

            #6
            SAME as Social Security ? ?

            Originally posted by BOB W
            I treat my client's England SS equivalent the same as US SS. No ID needed. I report it in the SS tab. Never had a problem, 10yrs or more.
            WHOA. . .are you sure you can do that??

            (Treat foreign income as perhaps partially non-taxable to the IRS and likely totally exempt from any state taxation.)

            Also, I cringe whenever I see "never had a problem" cited as an apparent justification for continuing to do something. . . . .

            Years ago, a friend (dual citizenship) asked about similar income for his mom, who lived most of her life in (West) Germany. While I don't know how things ended up for her, I do recall there was some discussion related to "treaty issues" being a determining factor. ATSMAN has already alluded to that issue.

            FE

            Comment

            • FEDUKE404
              Senior Member
              • May 2007
              • 3648

              #7
              Gretel confirms

              Originally posted by Gretel
              Dito, with German SS. Follows the same rules as US SS. My clients actually gets SS from both countries.
              Guten Morgen, Gretel.

              Sounds as if we may now have a definitive answer ? ?

              Thanks.

              FE

              Comment

              • Burke
                Senior Member
                • Jan 2008
                • 7068

                #8
                Originally posted by FEDUKE404
                WHOA. . .are you sure you can do that?? (Treat foreign income as perhaps partially non-taxable to the IRS and likely totally exempt from any state taxation.)FE
                Yes, you can if the treaty says so. Have done it also. Just need to make sure that it is really a SS equivalent benefit from the foreign government and not a pension from some corporation, for instance.

                Comment

                • momona
                  Member
                  • Jun 2010
                  • 60

                  #9
                  Post about treaty is correct and treatment of England SS is correct because it is an agreement between US and England.

                  Comment

                  • DonB
                    Senior Member
                    • Mar 2011
                    • 281

                    #10
                    [QUOTE=Burke;178313]Yes, you can if the treaty says so. Have done it also. Just need to make sure that it is really a SS equivalent benefit from the foreign government and not a pension from some corporation, for instance.[/QUOT)

                    From the Belgium Tax Treaty-- Can you tell me what this means?

                    Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, payments made by a Contracting State under provisions of the social security or similar legislation of that State to a resident of the other Contracting State or to a citizen of the United States shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State.

                    Comment

                    • ATSMAN
                      Senior Member
                      • Jul 2013
                      • 2415

                      #11
                      Here is the Tax Treaty



                      Please refer to article 18 and 19.
                      Taxes after all are the dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society. - FDR

                      Comment

                      • Burke
                        Senior Member
                        • Jan 2008
                        • 7068

                        #12
                        From the Belgium Tax Treaty-- Can you tell me what this means?

                        Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, payments made by a Contracting State under provisions of the social security or similar legislation of that State to a resident of the other Contracting State or to a citizen of the United States shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State.
                        I interpret that to mean (in the case of a US citizen or US resident receiving SS benefits from Belgium) that it would only be taxable in Belgium and not here. And that if the SS benefits were received from the US government to a US citizen resident of Belgium, that it would only be taxable here and not Belgium. Is that what you are referring to?
                        Last edited by Burke; 02-06-2016, 03:55 PM.

                        Comment

                        • DonB
                          Senior Member
                          • Mar 2011
                          • 281

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Burke
                          I interpret that to mean (in the case of a US citizen or US resident receiving SS benefits from Belgium) that it would only be taxable in Belgium and not here. And that if the SS benefits were received from the US government to a US citizen resident of Belgium, that it would only be taxable here and not Belgium. Is that what you are referring to?
                          That is what I am concluding. Thanks for your opinion.

                          Comment

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