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International Programs Home | ![]() Totalization Agreement with Italy |
(Based on SSA Publication #05-10171, ICN 480187)
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OMB Approval Number: 0960-0554 |
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Table of Contents |
Part I -- Introduction
Part II -- Coverage And Social Security Taxes
Part III -- Certificate Of Coverage
Part IV -- Monthly Benefits
Part V -- An Italian Pension May Affect Your U.S. BenefitPart VI -- What You Need To Know About MedicarePart VII -- Claims For Benefits
Part VIII -- For More Information |
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Part I -- Introduction |
An agreement effective November 1, 1978, between the United States and Italy improves Social Security protection for people who work or have worked in both countries. It helps many people who, without the agreement, would not be eligible for monthly retirement, disability or survivors benefits under the Social Security system of one or both countries. It also helps people who would otherwise have to pay Social Security taxes to both countries on the same earnings. For the United States, the agreement covers Social Security taxes (including the U.S. Medicare portion) and Social Security retirement, disability and survivors insurance benefits. It doesn’t cover benefits under the U.S. Medicare program or the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. For Italy, it also includes family allowances. This document covers highlights of the agreement and explains how it may help you while you work and when you apply for benefits. |
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The Agreement May Help You, Your Family And Your Employer |
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Part II -- Coverage And Social Security Taxes |
Before the agreement, employees, employers and self-employed persons could, under certain circumstances, be required to pay Social Security taxes to both the United States and Italy for the same work. Under the agreement, a U.S. national who would otherwise be covered by both countries, is only covered by the United States. An Italian national or dual U.S./Italian national who would otherwise be covered by both countries generally may choose the country to which Social Security taxes will be paid (see the following table).
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II.A. Summary of Agreement Rules |
The following table shows whether your work is covered under the U.S. or Italian Social Security system. If you are covered under U.S. Social Security, you and your employer (if you are an employee) must pay U.S. Social Security taxes. If you are covered under the Italian system, you and your employer (if you are an employee) must pay Italian Social Security taxes. Part III explains how to get a form from the country where you are covered that will prove you are exempt in the other country.
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NOTE: As the table indicates, a U.S. national employed in Italy can be covered by U.S. Social Security only if he or she works for a U.S. employer. A U.S. employer includes a corporation organized under the laws of the United States or any state, a partnership if at least two-thirds of the partners are U.S. residents, an individual who is a resident of the U.S. or a trust if all the trustees are U.S. residents. The term also includes a foreign affiliate of a U.S. employer if the U.S. employer has entered into an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service under section 3121(l) of the Internal Revenue Code to pay Social Security taxes for U.S. citizens and residents employed by the affiliate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
II.B. Election Of Coverage |
Under the terms of the agreement, a national of the United States or Italy
who would otherwise be covered by both countries, will generally remain
covered only by the country of which he or she is a national and is exempt
in the other. However, Italian nationals and dual nationals (nationals of
both the U.S. and Italy) who are working in employment or self-employment
covered by both systems must elect to be exempt from coverage and taxation
under one system and to pay Social Security taxes to the other. This election
must be made within three months from the date the work
begins. If you are an Italian national, you may subsequently change your
election of coverage. However, you may change your election only:
If you are a dual U.S/Italian national working in employment or self-employment covered by the United States and Italy, your election for that particular job is final and may not be changed. However, you may change your election if you begin a new job that is covered by both countries. To make an election, you or your employer should write to the Social Security system of the country where you want to continue your coverage and request a certificate of coverage from that country. You should send the request to the appropriate address shown in the following section of this document. |
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Part III -- Certificate Of Coverage |
A certificate of coverage issued by one country serves as proof of exemption from Social Security taxes on the same earnings in the other country. |
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III.A. Certificates For Employees |
To establish an exemption from compulsory coverage and taxes under the Italian system, your employer must request a certificate of coverage (form USA/IT 4) from the U.S. at this address: Social Security Administration The request may be sent by FAX, if preferred, to (410) 966-1861. Please note this FAX number should only be used for requesting certificates of coverage. No special form is required to request a certificate, but, the request must be in writing and provide the following information:
In addition, your employer must indicate if you remain an employee of the U.S. company while working in Italy or if you become an employee of the U.S. company’s affiliate in Italy. If you become an employee of an affiliate, your employer must indicate if the U.S. company has an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service under section 3121(l) of the Internal Revenue Code to pay U.S. Social Security taxes for U.S. citizens and residents employed by the affiliate and, if yes, the effective date of the agreement. Your employer can also request a certificate of U.S. coverage for you over the Internet using a special online request form available at www.socialsecurity.gov/coc. Only an employer can use the online form to request a certificate of coverage. A self-employed person must submit a request by mail or fax. To establish your exemption from coverage under the U.S. Social Security system, your employer in Italy must request a certificate of coverage (form IT/USA 4) from Italy by writing to the provincial office of the Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale in the province where the Italian employer is located. The same information required for a certificate of coverage from the
United States is needed to get a certificate from Italy except that you
must show your Italian Social Security number rather than your U.S. Social
Security number.
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III.B. Certificates For Self-Employed Persons |
If you are self-employed and would normally have to pay Social Security taxes to both the U.S. and Italian systems, you can establish your exemption from one of the taxes by writing to:
Be sure to provide the following information in your letter:
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III.C. Effective Date Of Coverage Exemption |
The certificate of coverage you receive from one country will show the effective date of your exemption from paying Social Security taxes in the other country. Generally, this will be the date you began working in the other country. Certificates of coverage issued by Italy should be retained by the employer in the United States in case of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). No copies should be sent to IRS unless specifically requested by IRS. However, a self-employed individual must attach a photocopy of the certificate to his or her income tax return each year as proof of the U.S. exemption. Copies of certificates of coverage issued by the United States will
be provided for both the employee and the employer. It will be their responsibility
to present the certificate to the Italian authorities when requested to
do so. To avoid any difficulties, your employer (or you, if you are self-employed)
should request a certificate as early as possible, preferably before your
work in the other country begins. If you or your employer request a certificate of coverage, you should read the Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act statements below.
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Part IV -- Monthly Benefits |
The following table shows the various types of Social Security benefits payable under the U.S. and Italian Social Security systems and briefly describes the eligibility requirements that normally apply for each type of benefit. If you don’t meet the normal requirements for these benefits, the agreement may help you to qualify (see Part IV.A below). This table is only a general guide. You can get more specific information about U.S. benefits here on our web site or at any U.S. Social Security office or by calling our toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213. You can get more detailed information about the Italian system by writing to the Italian address in Part VIII or by visiting the Italian Social Security system web site at www.inps.it. Under U.S. Social Security, you may earn up to four credits each year depending on the amount of your covered earnings. For example, in 2003, you get one credit for each $890 of your covered annual earnings up to a maximum of four credits for the year. Under the Italian system, credits are measured in weeks. To simplify the information in the table, requirements are shown in years of credits.
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Monthly Benefits and Eligibility Requirements |
*In Italy, family members must be dependent on the worker and are presumed to be if they are living in the same household. |
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IV.A. How Benefits Can Be Paid |
If you have Social Security credits in both the United States and Italy, you may be eligible for benefits from one or both countries. If you meet all the basic requirements under one country’s system, you will get a regular benefit from that country. If you don’t meet the basic requirements, the agreement may help you qualify for a benefit as explained below.
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IV.A.1. Benefits from the U.S |
If you don’t have enough work credits under the U.S. system to qualify for regular benefits, you may be able to qualify for a partial benefit from the United States based on both U.S. and Italian credits. Only Italian credits earned after 1936 may be counted. However, to be eligible to have your Italian credits counted, you must have earned at least six credits (generally one and one-half years of work) under the U.S. system. If you already have enough credits under the U.S. system to qualify for a benefit, the United States cannot count your Italian credits. |
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IV.A.2. Benefits from Italy |
Social Security credits from both countries can also be counted, when necessary, to meet the eligibility requirements for Italian benefits. To be eligible to have your U.S. and Italian credits counted, you must have at least one year of coverage since 1920 under any of the programs administered by the following four Italian Social Security Agengies:
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IV.B. How Credits Get Counted |
You don’t have to do anything to have your credits in one country counted by the other country. If we need to count your credits under the Italian system to help you qualify for a U.S. benefit, we will get a copy of your Italian record directly from Italy when you apply for benefits. If Italy needs to count your U.S. credits to help you qualify for an Italian benefit, they will get a copy of your U.S. record directly from the Social Security Administration when you apply for the Italian benefit. Although each country may count your credits in the other country, your
credits are not actually transferred from one country to the other. They
remain on your record in the country where you earned them and can also
be used to qualify for benefits there.
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IV.C. Computation of U.S. Benefit Under The Agreement |
When a U.S. benefit becomes payable as a result of counting both U.S. and Italian Social Security credits, an initial benefit is determined based on your U.S. earnings as if your entire career had been completed under the U.S. system. This initial benefit is then reduced to reflect the fact that Italian credits helped to make the benefit payable. The amount of the reduction will depend on the number of U.S. credits: the more U.S. credits, the smaller the reduction; and the fewer U.S. credits, the larger the reduction.
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Part V -- An Italian Pension May Affect Your U.S. Benefit |
If you qualify for Social Security benefits from both the United States and Italy and you didn’t need the agreement to qualify for either benefit, the amount of your U.S. benefit may be reduced. This is a result of a provision in U.S. law which can affect the way your benefit is figured if you also receive a pension based on work that was not covered by U.S. Social Security. For more information, call our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213, and ask for the factsheet, Windfall Elimination Provision (Publication #05-10045). If you are outside the United States, you may write to us at the address in Part VIII. |
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Part VI -- What You Need To Know About Medicare |
Medicare is the U.S. national health insurance system for people age 65 or older or who are disabled. Medicare has two parts: hospital insurance (also called "Part A" Medicare) and medical insurance (called "Part B" Medicare). You are eligible for free hospital insurance at age 65 if you have worked long enough under U.S. Social Security to qualify for a retirement benefit. People born in 1929 or later need 40 credits (about 10 years of covered work) to qualify for retirement benefits. Although the agreement between the United States and Italy allows the Social Security Administration to count your Italian credits to help you qualify for U.S. retirement, disability or survivor benefits, the agreement doesn’t cover Medicare benefits. As a result, we cannot count your credits in Italy to establish entitlement to free Medicare hospital insurance. For more information about Medicare, call our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213, and ask for the booklet, Medicare (Publication #05-10043) or visit Medicare’s website at www.medicare.gov.
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Part VII --Claims For Benefits |
If you live in the United States and wish to
apply for U.S. or Italian benefits:
You can apply for Italian benefits at any U.S. Social Security office by completing an application form SSA-2490. If you live in Italy and wish to apply for U.S. or Italian benefits, contact
You can apply with one country and ask to have your application
considered as a claim for benefits from the other country. Information
from your application will then be sent to the other country. Each country
will process the claim under its own laws—counting credits from
the other country when appropriate—and notify you of its decision.
If you haven’t applied for benefits before, you may need to provide certain information and documents when you apply. These include the worker’s U.S. and Italian Social Security numbers, proof of age for all claimants, evidence of the worker’s U.S. earnings in the past 24 months, and information about the worker’s coverage under the Italian system. You may wish to call the Social Security office before you go there to see if any other information is needed.
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VII.A. Payment of Benefits |
Each country pays its own benefit. U.S. payments are made by the U.S. Department of Treasury each month and cover benefits for the preceding month. Italian benefits are paid through the Banca Commerciale Italiana in New York for beneficiaries living in the United States. If you live outside Italy, payments are made every four months for the two previous months and the two succeeding ones.
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VII.B Absence From U.S. Territory |
Normally, persons who are not U.S. citizens may receive U.S. Social Security benefits while outside the U.S. only if they meet certain requirements. Under the agreement, however, you may receive benefits as long as you reside in Italy regardless of your nationality. If you are not a U.S. citizen and live in another country, you may not be able to receive benefits. The restrictions on U.S. benefits are explained in the booklet, Social Security—Your Payments While You Are Outside The United States" (Publication #05-10137).
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VII.C Appeals |
If you disagree with the decision made on your claim for benefits under the agreement, contact any U.S. or Italian Social Security office. The people there can tell you what you need to do to appeal the decision. The Italian Social Security authorities will review your appeal if it affects your rights under the Italian system, while U.S. Social Security authorities will review your appeal if it affects your rights under the U.S. system. Since each country’s decisions are made independently of the other, a decision by one country on a particular issue may not always conform with the decision made by the other country on the same issue.
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Part VIII -- For More Information |
To file a claim for U.S. or Italian benefits under the agreement, follow the instructions in Part VII. To find out more about U.S. Social Security benefits or for information about a claim for benefits, contact any U.S. Social Security office. If you live outside the United States, write to:
For more information about Italy’s Social Security programs, visit any Social Security office in Italy. If you don’t live in Italy, write to:
If you don't wish to file a claim for benefits, but would like more information about the agreement, write to:
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