How do I report foreign Social Security benefits (from Switzerland) on my U.S. tax return? Thanks.
Foreign Social Security
Mar 17, 2026
Last reply: 4 months ago
2 Replies
According to tb snipped-for-privacy@example.invalid:
Here is an IRS article on that exact topic:
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tl;dr It depends on the tax treaty.
And here is a table that says it's in article 19 of the treaty:
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And here is the treaty:
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As I read it, assuming you are a US resident, it's taxable income. Switzerland might also tax it but you can presumably credit that. Looks like it goes on line 8(z) of schedule 1, with an explanation of what it is.
I looked on the Web for decent advice; the IRS Web site helpfully suggests reading the tax treaty. These can be thousands of pages long.
This page was helpful.
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Basically, Line 5a, but the part that's taxable is complicated.
Read Publication 575 and maybe 514.
IRS has a summary of tax treaties but I'm not spotting that immediately.
An obvious question comes to mind. If it's not taxable and foreign tax was withheld, is that reported for the purpose of the foreign tax credit?
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