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Comment by Mediterraneo10 | Hacker News Reader

> Also as far as owing onerous back taxes go, aren't taxes you paid in your country of residence deductible ?

No, the USA has treaties with only some other countries that result in net-zero taxation of self-employed people. If you live in a country with which a tax treaty has not been concluded, and you are self-employed, you are liable to both your local country for income taxes etc., and to the USA for Social Security and Medicare.

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OTOH, isn't there a poverty-line amount in USA that makes some income level practically tax-free (through deductions, etc.)? I imagine that in most countries $15.000 / year is a rich person's income, while in USA it puts you under "starving". What I want to say, if you're living in, say, Kazakhstan, earning a good fat paycheck of $1000 a month and living like a king, shouldn't you file "I'm starving poor at $12000" to the IRS and get zero taxes, or, perhaps, even some food stamps or something like that?

(Just guessing, I don't have experience with this)

Kazakhstan is not a cheap country, at least not the cities of Almaty and Astana where foreigners are likely to live. They regularly appear on "Most expensive cities" lists.

Social Security and Medicare is paid by American workers regardless of their total income. That is, there is no poverty limit under which they do not have to send that money to the IRS.

According to google, the average salary in Kazakhstan is 212894 KZT/month, which is $500. How much does an American worker making $500/month have to pay to the IRS for SS and Medicare?

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