Do H-1Bs pay FICA taxes?
Contrary to ZaZona.com’s claim, yes. There is no exception for H-1Bs. Only certain students with F-1 visas are exempt. There are totalization agreements with very few countries. However, in all of them, there is no transfer of Social Security funds between countries. Few H-1Bs are even affected by totalization agreements (neither India nor China have them) – Indian or Chinese H-1Bs will simply pay their US FICA tax and never see a benefit from them. Even for those who do have a totalization agreement, the US still receives the FICA payments. All such a totalization agreement says is that in some cases, the person may be eligible for a small Social Security benefit after his retirement – much less than an American would receive after a lifetime of employment. ZaZona.com quotes Dr. Norman Matloff. Dr. Matloff is a computer science professor, not a lawyer, and long-time anti-H-1B activist. His computer science credentials may be more advanced than mine (I “only” have an Master of Science)
