Hello

How can I avoid paying 30% in taxes as a non resident living abroad.

Thank you in advance.

Hi. The 30% tax withholding on Social Security benefits only applies to non-U.S citizens who are living outside of the U.S. The tax does not apply to citizens of the U.S., American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or Puerto Rico.

People who are not citizens of one of the countries listed above may still be exempt from the 30% tax withholding depending on which country they live in. The U.S. has tax treaties with several countries that either can exempt their residents from the nonresident alien tax withholding on Social Security benefits or reduce the withholding rate. To learn whether or not any of those treaties apply to you, refer to the following section of Social Security's operations manual: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0205010010#a.

Best, Jerry