All benefits actually paid or credited, including benefits paid in error, are treated as “paid”.

Included in “benefits paid” are the amounts withheld to satisfy financial obligations of the beneficiary, such as:

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  Supplemental Medical Insurance (SMI) premiums;

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  Medicare Advantage premiums (Part C);

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  Medicare Prescription Drug premiums (Part D);

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  recovery of an overpayment;

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  attorney fees;

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  alimony;

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  child support;

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  unpaid maritime tax;

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  nonresident alien tax.

Congress requires that Social Security include WC offset in benefits paid.

Benefits withheld for the following reasons are not considered “benefits paid.”

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  Suspensions and deductions under annual earnings test and foreign work test;

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  no child in care;

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  Vocational Rehabilitation referral refusal;

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  Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP);

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  public disability offset;

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  Government Pension Offset (GPO);

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  penalty deductions;

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  alien nonpayment;

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  deportation;

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  SGA by a blind DI beneficiary;

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  penal confinement; and

• •

  non-attendance by a student.

  NOTE: Due to the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) of 2023, December 2023 is the last month that WEP and GPO will apply. This means that those rules no longer apply to benefits payable for January 2024 and later.

For tax purposes, disregard this provision. For an explanation of the provision, see “Facility-of-Payment” (GN 02603.075).