Employment

For purposes of this chapter, the term “employment” means any service performed prior to 1955, which was employment for purposes of subchapter C of chapter 9 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 under the law applicable to the period in which such service was performed, and (A) any service, of whatever nature, performed after 1954 by an employee for the person employing him, irrespective of the citizenship or residence of either, (i) within the United States, or (ii) on or in connection with an American vessel or American aircraft under a contract of service which is entered into within the United States or during the performance of which and while the employee is employed on the vessel or aircraft it touches at a port in the United States, if the employee is employed on and in connection with such vessel or aircraft when outside the United States, and (B) any service, of whatever nature, performed after 1971 outside the United States (except in a contiguous country with which the United States has an agreement relating to unemployment compensation) by a citizen of the United States as an employee of an American employer (as defined in subsection (j)(3)), except—

(1) agricultural labor (as defined in subsection (k)) unless— (A) such labor is performed for a person who— (i) during any calendar quarter in the calendar year or the preceding calendar year paid remuneration in cash of $20,000 or more to individuals employed in agricultural labor (including labor performed by an alien referred to in subparagraph (B)), or (ii) on each of some 20 days during the calendar year or the preceding calendar year, each day being in a different calendar week, employed in agricultural labor (including labor performed by an alien referred to in subparagraph (B)) for some portion of the day (whether or not at the same moment of time) 10 or more individuals; and (B) such labor is not agricultural labor performed by an individual who is an alien admitted to the United States to perform agricultural labor pursuant to sections 214(c) and 101(a)(15)(H) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

(2) domestic service in a private home, local college club, or local chapter of a college fraternity or sorority unless performed for a person who paid cash remuneration of $1,000 or more to individuals employed in such domestic service in any calendar quarter in the calendar year or the preceding calendar year;

(3) service not in the course of the employer’s trade or business performed in any calendar quarter by an employee, unless the cash remuneration paid for such service is $50 or more and such service is performed by an individual who is regularly employed by such employer to perform such service. For purposes of this paragraph, an individual shall be deemed to be regularly employed by an employer during a calendar quarter only if— (A) on each of some 24 days during such quarter such individual performs for such employer for some portion of the day service not in the course of the employer’s trade or business, or (B) such individual was regularly employed (as determined under subparagraph (A)) by such employer in the performance of such service during the preceding calendar quarter;

(4) service performed on or in connection with a vessel or aircraft not an American vessel or American aircraft, if the employee is employed on and in connection with such vessel or aircraft when outside the United States;

(5) service performed by an individual in the employ of his son, daughter, or spouse, and service performed by a child under the age of 21 in the employ of his father or mother;

(6) service performed in the employ of the United States Government or of an instrumentality of the United States which is— (A) wholly or partially owned by the United States, or (B) exempt from the tax imposed by section 3301 by virtue of any provision of law which specifically refers to such section (or the corresponding section of prior law) in granting such exemption;

(7) service performed in the employ of a State, or any political subdivision thereof, or in the employ of an Indian tribe, or any instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing which is wholly owned by one or more States or political subdivisions or Indian tribes; and any service performed in the employ of any instrumentality of one or more States or political subdivisions to the extent that the instrumentality is, with respect to such service, immune under the Constitution of the United States from the tax imposed by section 3301;

(8) service performed in the employ of a religious, charitable, educational, or other organization described in section 501(c)(3) which is exempt from income tax under section 501(a);

(9) service performed by an individual as an employee or employee representative as defined in section 1 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act ( 45 U.S.C. 351 );

(10) (A) service performed in any calendar quarter in the employ of any organization exempt from income tax under section 501(a) (other than an organization described in section 401(a)) or under section 521, if the remuneration for such service is less than $50, or (B) service performed in the employ of a school, college, or university, if such service is performed (i) by a student who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes at such school, college, or university, or (ii) by the spouse of such a student, if such spouse is advised, at the time such spouse commences to perform such service, that (I) the employment of such spouse to perform such service is provided under a program to provide financial assistance to such student by such school, college, or university, and (II) such employment will not be covered by any program of unemployment insurance, or (C) service performed by an individual who is enrolled at a nonprofit or public educational institution which normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and normally has a regularly organized body of students in attendance at the place where its educational activities are carried on as a student in a full-time program, taken for credit at such institution, which combines academic instruction with work experience, if such service is an integral part of such program, and such institution has so certified to the employer, except that this subparagraph shall not apply to service performed in a program established for or on behalf of an employer or group of employers, or (D) service performed in the employ of a hospital, if such service is performed by a patient of such hospital;

(11) service performed in the employ of a foreign government (including service as a consular or other officer or employee or a nondiplomatic representative);

(12) service performed in the employ of an instrumentality wholly owned by a foreign government— (A) if the service is of a character similar to that performed in foreign countries by employees of the United States Government or of an instrumentality thereof; and (B) if the Secretary of State shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury that the foreign government, with respect to whose instrumentality exemption is claimed, grants an equivalent exemption with respect to similar service performed in the foreign country by employees of the United States Government and of instrumentalities thereof;

(13) service performed as a student nurse in the employ of a hospital or a nurses’ training school by an individual who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes in a nurses’ training school chartered or approved pursuant to State law; and service performed as an intern in the employ of a hospital by an individual who has completed a 4 years’ course in a medical school chartered or approved pursuant to State law;

(14) service performed by an individual for a person as an insurance agent or as an insurance solicitor, if all such service performed by such individual for such person is performed for remuneration solely by way of commission;

(15) (A) service performed by an individual under the age of 18 in the delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news, not including delivery or distribution to any point for subsequent delivery or distribution; (B) service performed by an individual in, and at the time of, the sale of newspapers or magazines to ultimate consumers, under an arrangement under which the newspapers or magazines are to be sold by him at a fixed price, his compensation being based on the retention of the excess of such price over the amount at which the newspapers or magazines are charged to him, whether or not he is guaranteed a minimum amount of compensation for such service, or is entitled to be credited with the unsold newspapers or magazines turned back;

(16) service performed in the employ of an international organization;

(17) service performed by an individual in (or as an officer or member of the crew of a vessel while it is engaged in) the catching, taking, harvesting, cultivating, or farming of any kind of fish, shellfish, crustacea, sponges, seaweeds, or other aquatic forms of animal and vegetable life (including service performed by any such individual as an ordinary incident to any such activity), except— (A) service performed in connection with the catching or taking of salmon or halibut, for commercial purposes, and (B) service performed on or in connection with a vessel of more than 10 net tons (determined in the manner provided for determining the register tonnage of merchant vessels under the laws of the United States);

(18) service described in section 3121(b)(20);

(19) service which is performed by a nonresident alien individual for the period he is temporarily present in the United States as a nonimmigrant under subparagraph (F), (J), (M), or (Q) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended ( 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(F) , (J), (M), or (Q)), and which is performed to carry out the purpose specified in subparagraph (F), (J), (M), or (Q), as the case may be;

(20) service performed by a full time student (as defined in subsection (q)) in the employ of an organized camp— (A) if such camp— (i) did not operate for more than 7 months in the calendar year and did not operate for more than 7 months in the preceding calendar year, or (ii) had average gross receipts for any 6 months in the preceding calendar year which were not more than 33⅓ percent of its average gross receipts for the other 6 months in the preceding calendar year; and (B) if such full time student performed services in the employ of such camp for less than 13 calendar weeks in such calendar year; or

(21) service performed by a person committed to a penal institution.