Rescinded 1984

SSR 62-61: Section 203(c.)—Non-Payment of Benefits— Employment Outside the United States

20 CFR 404.408 and 404.418

SSR 62-61

An old-age insurance beneficiary performed services in Canada as an employee of a foreign employer for 1 hour per day on 6 days per week during the period March 1961 through January 1962. Held, such services constitute engaging in noncovered remunerative activity outside the United States on 7 or more different calendar days in each month from March 1961 through January 1962. Therefore, a deduction equal to the amount of the benefit must be made from benefits for each of the months March 1961 through January 1962.

C, a United States citizen living in Canada, filed application for old-age insurance benefits in March 1962 and became entitled to benefits of $100 a month beginning March 1961. C had worked in Canada as the employee of a doctor, a resident of Canada in private practice, from 1956 to January 31, 1962. She had worked as the doctor's receptionist 1 hour a day on 6 days a week and was paid $18 per week.

Under section 203(c), as pertinent here, a deduction equal to the amount of the monthly benefit must be made for any month in which an old-age insurance beneficiary under age 72 engages in noncovered remunerative activity outside the United States on 7 or more different calendar days. Section 203(k) provides, in pertinent part, that a person "shall be considered to be engaged in noncovered remunerative activity outside the United States if he performs services outside the United States as an employee and such services do not constitute employment as defined in section 210" of the Act.

The question is for what months, if any, must deductions be made for C's old-age insurance benefits. This depends, in turn, on what months she engaged in uncovered remunerative activity outside the United States on 7 or more different calendar days.

C's services in Canada as an employee of a resident of Canada (of foreign employer) do not constitute employment under section 210 of the Act and are noncovered remunerative activity outside the United States. Since C performed noncovered remunerative activity on 6 different calendar days per week (or on 24-27 different calendar days per month) for the period March 1961 through January 1962, a deduction equal to the monthly benefit ($100) must be made from her benefits for each of those months. Thus nothing is payable to C for the months of March 1961 through January 1962. It is immaterial that the total time she devoted to these services was only 24 to 27 hours per month or that her remuneration for such services was only $72 to $81 per month, since the law specifically refers to engaging in noncovered remunerative activity on 7 or more different calendar days in a month and not to any amount of work of remuneration.

Accordingly, it is held that a deduction equal to the amount of their monthly benefit must be made from C's old-age insurance benefits for each of the months March 1961 to January 1962, inclusive. Therefore, no benefits are payable to her for such months.


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