Why I Can Finally Blog Again!

I have been strangely silent, I know. But this is because I was feeling STRESS about my situation with Social Security and INPS. Here is what happened.

Italy and the United States have a special agreement when it comes to paying taxes. When you become self-employed, you are supposed to pay Social Security in America, not in Italy (INPS) if you are American. (Dear American ex-pats in other countries, For international agreements between the country you are living in and the U.S., you will want to check, beause there are different agreements for each country). The problem with this is that your accountant in Italy will not know this and your accountant in America will not know this, so you are liable to pay twice (which really hurts) or, (like I did) pay once, but in the WRONG COUNTRY and then have to pay again in the correct country before you get reimbursed in the wrong country, so either way, you pay twice and (in shallah) get reimbursed later.

To show that you are exempt from paying INPS in Italy, you need a Certificate of Coverage from the Social Security Administration. This is no problem if you request it at the time you become self-employed. In fact, my friends who learned from my mistake got theirs no problem. At that point you just send a little letter to INPS telling them to cancel your position with INPS and you hold on to that Certificate of Coverage in case you get audited and the Italians want to see the proof.

Today is a day for celebration because.

I RECEIVED MY CERTIFICATE OF COVERAGE
and
I SENT IT TO INPS.

Now let's just say a group prayer that INPS pays me back with the Quickness because I had to pay a giant tax bill in the states (and who knows how much the penalties and interest will be. It gives me tremors just thinking about it!) even though I ALREADY PAID THIS MONEY IN ITALY.

Here is why it was worth doing.

1. It's the Law. And I was breaking it without understanding that.
And I am NOT A RULEBREAKER.

2. This little-known perk: My Italian husband who has never paid into the American Social Security system now has a right to his own little pension (half of mine in addition to the one I will receive) which he can claim even if we get divorced (as long as he doesn't get hitched again).

3. The number of years you need to contribute to the Social Security system in the US is 10 years (or 40 credits, which is the equivalent of 10 years of work) to be in the system, so everything you earn above that is gravy. The longer you stay and contribute to the system the more you receive when you are retirement age. In Italy you must contribute at least 25 years to get the minimum. Keep in mind, even in America, the less you contribute, the less you will get later.

4. When I moved to Italy I thought I was kissing the idea of a pension goodbye forever. I didn't know anything about Totalization agreements back then, so all of this has changed my view of being an old fart. Now I can't wait to get old!!! ;) For those of you who don't know what a totalization agreement is, it just means that many countries count the years you worked in other countries towards your pension. Great news for expats who paid their taxes in the foreign country.

Now that this situation is on the tail end of being solved I have found my desire to blog again without complaining.

See you soon and I hope you are enjoying your summer!!