Social Security Benefits Received in Foreign Exempt Country
1

For Social Security recipients, the TaxAct® program will calculate the taxable portion of the Social Security benefits reported on Line 5a of Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return based on Worksheet 1 from IRS Publication 915 Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits, page 16.

If you reside in a country (listed in Publication 915, page 5) that has an agreement with the U.S. regarding the non-taxability of Social Security retirement benefits, we would suggest they be treated as other non-taxable income and not reported on the return.

U.S. citizens residing abroad. U.S. citizens who are residents of the following countries are exempt from U.S. tax on their benefits.

  • Canada
  • Egypt
  • Germany
  • Ireland
  • Israel
  • Italy (You must also be a citizen of Italy for the exemption to apply.)
  • Romania
  • United Kingdom

Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the webpage or document at the time it is accessed.