Foreign agricultural workers temporarily admitted into the United States on H-2A visas are exempt from U.S. Social Security and Medicare taxes on compensation paid to them for services performed in connection with the H-2A visa. This is true whether they are resident aliens or nonresident aliens.

In addition, compensation paid to H-2A agricultural workers for services performed in connection with the H-2A visa is not considered to be “wages” for purposes of federal income tax withholding, and thus is not subject to mandatory withholding of U.S. federal income tax…Internal Revenue Service

More than 160,000 new temporary (up to three years extension allowed) workers were issued H-2A Visas last year, with about half of those going to Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Washington and California. Their employers did not pay the company share (6.2%) for FICA (Social Security) or Medicare tax (1.45%). Their bosses didn’t even withhold income taxes, making net pay almost the same same as gross pay. Continue reading →