Purpose

To continue the collaborative effort between OSC and State Agency Personnel/Payroll Offices in reconciling Social Security Numbers and names in the State Payroll System and the Social Security Administration (SSA) files.

Affected Employees

Employees who appear on Control D Report NPAY752 Social Security Number Verification.

Effective Date

Immediately

Background

OSC issued Payroll Bulletin No.(s) 357, 364, 384 and 431 alerting Agencies that the IRS will start imposing fines and penalties on employers/State agencies starting with the 2002 W-2s whose Social Security information does not match SSA records.

Maintaining up-to-date Social Security information in the State Payroll System ensures accurate posting of Social Security earnings, and ensures that employees avoid problems when they become eligible for Social Security benefits.

The Social Security Administration recently added some new features to the verification system: Verification Code Indicators, and Deceased Indicator.

Verification Code Indicators:

• SSN not in file (never issued to anyone)
• Name does not match, DOB and gender code not checked
• Deceased

SSA will now inform OSC if the person with matching name and SSN is listed as Deceased on SSA's records.

OSC Actions

OSC recently issued the 2003 employee W-2 file for comparison with SSA database records using the SSA's Enumeration Verification System (EVS).

The result of this comparison is now available in Control D Report NPAY752.

Agency Actions

1. Review the March 2004 Control D Report NPAY752.
2. Agencies must send a notification letter to all the employees who are on this report. Use the letter attached to Payroll Bulletin No. 357 as a guide. The Payroll Office must retain a copy of each letter (and any responses from the employee) for four (4) calendar years.
3. If the Social Security information reported on the State Payroll System is inaccurate, enter the correct information into the Personal Data>Identity/Diversity page as soon as possible.
4. To ensure the IRS requirements for correcting discrepancies in Social Security information are met and to avoid fines and penalties for the 2003 reporting year, Agencies must update Social Security information by July 1, 2004 to meet the IRS deadline for submitting corrections.
5. If the employee believes that the Social Security information reported on the State Payroll System is correct, instruct the employee to contact the SSA to verify and correct their records. Agencies should document this and retain this information for four (4) calendar years.

Copies of letters and other documentation must be available in the event of an OSC review and/or IRS audit.

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Deductions mailbox.