International social security agreements, often referred to as “totalization agreements,” have two main objectives. First, they remove the double taxation of social security, the situation that occurs when a worker from one country works in another country and is required to pay social security taxes to the two countries with the same incomes. Second, the agreements help fill gaps in benefit protection for workers who have shared their careers between the United States and another country. International social security agreements are beneficial for both those who work today and those whose careers are over. For current workers, the agreements eliminate the double contributions they might otherwise make to social security plans in the United States and another country. For people who have worked in the United States and abroad and are now retired, disabled or deceased, agreements often result in the payment of benefits to which the worker or family members would not otherwise be entitled. The agreement with Italy is a departure from other US agreements because it does not regulate the people cashed in. As in other agreements, the basic criterion of coverage is the territorial rule. However, the coverage of foreign workers is mainly based on the nationality of the worker. If an employed or self-employed U.S.
citizen in Italy would be covered by U.S. Social Security without the agreement, he will remain covered by the U.S. program and exempt from Italian coverage and contributions. Anyone with more information about the U.S. Social Security Accords program, including the details of some existing agreements, wishes to write: The Data Protection Act requires you to inform you that we are entitled to collect this information in accordance with Section 233 of the Social Security Act. Although it is not mandatory for you to provide the information to the Social Security Administration (SSA), a coverage certificate can only be issued if an application has been received. The information is needed to enable Social Security to determine whether work should be covered only between the United States.
