Questionnaire About Employment or Self-Employment Outside the United States

When a Social Security beneficiary or claimant reports work outside the United States, SSA uses Form SSA 7163 to determine if foreign work deductions are applicable. Specifically, SSA uses Form SSA-7163 to determine: (1) whether work performed by beneficiaries outside the United States is cause for deductions from their monthly benefits; (2) which of two work tests (foreign or regular test) is applicable; and (3) the number of months, if any, for SSA imposed deductions. As the respondents are beneficiaries living and working outside the United States, SSA must determine whether the annual earnings test applies to all earnings from work covered by the Social Security Act (Act), including earnings from covered work performed outside the United States. However, because of the differences in foreign currency values, it is administratively impractical to apply this test to earnings from non-covered work performed outside the United States and base it on United States dollars. Accordingly, the 45-hour work test provides for deductions from the benefits of employees under full retirement age who engage in non-covered remunerative activity for more than 45 hours in a calendar month. SSA asks beneficiaries working outside the United States to complete this form annually or every other year (depending on the country of residence). Respondents are beneficiaries or claimants for Social Security benefits who are engaged in work outside the United States.

The latest form for Questionnaire About Employment or Self-Employment Outside the United States expires 2021-01-31 and can be found here.