SECA Tax on Aliens

Aliens who are residents of the United States are usually subject to self-employment tax just as are U.S. citizens. For example, an author who published books while he was a nonresident alien and subsequently moved to the United States was taxable on the royalties he received after becoming a U.S. resident.

A nonresident alien never has self-employment income. Even though nonresident aliens who derive income from a trade or business carried on in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa, may be subject to income tax, they are not subject to the self-employment tax. However, persons who are not citizens of the United States, but are resident of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa are not considered nonresident aliens. Instead, they are treated as resident aliens and, thus, are subject to self-employment tax.

Employees of foreign governments (including their instrumentalities) and international organizations are subject to self-employment tax only if they are U.S. citizens employed in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands, and their employers are not required to withhold social security and Medicare taxes from their wages.

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