Purpose

Verify the Social Security numbers and names as supplied by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the PayServ system. This process will ensure that employees are properly credited by SSA for their earnings for 2009 and allow us to correct reporting on any incorrect Forms W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement).

Affected Employees

The affected employees will appear on the Control-D Report NPAY 752 (Social Security Number Verification Report)

Effective Date

Immediately

Background

Pursuant to Internal Revenue Publication 15 (Circular E), employers are required to enter a correct name and Social Security number on their employees’ Form W-2. This requirement also applies to resident and nonresident alien employees.

To ensure this requirement is met, OSC and agency Payroll/Personnel Officers will reconcile social security numbers and names in PayServ with the SSA quarterly.

OSC Actions

OSC has created the Control-D Report, NPAY752; identifying employees with taxable wages in 2009 that have a discrepancy with what is on file with the Social Security Administration. All corrections must be completed by July 1, 2010. OSC will follow up with agencies to ensure the corrections have been made.

The NPAY752 report contains the following information:

• Employee’s Social Security Number
• Employee’s Name
• Reason Why SSN Not Verified. Reasons provided by SSA may include:
  • 1 = SSN not in file (never issued)
  • 5 = Name does not match; DOB and gender code not checked
  • 6 = Contact local SSA office for more information
• Other SSN

Agency Actions

Agencies must take the following actions to ensure discrepancies identified between PayServ and the SSA are reconciled:

• Review the NPAY752 Control-D report for your agency code(s).
• Send a notification letter to employees who appear on the NPAY752 requesting that the employee provide proof of updated information to the agency Personnel or Payroll Office as soon as possible. (A sample letter which agencies may use is provided.)Agency payroll officers should retain a copy of each letter and any response from employees for four (4) calendar years in the event of an OSC review and/or IRS audit.
• Verify that the Social Security card presented by the employee is the most recent card issued by the Social Security Administration. If the information reported in PayServ does not match the information on the Social Security card, the agency must enter the correct information into PayServ’s ‘Modify a Person’ page as soon as possible and issue a corrected 2009 Form W-2 with the correct Social Security number or name to the employee.
• If the employee believes that the Social Security information reported in PayServ is correct, instruct the employee to contact the SSA to verify and correct their records. Agencies should document and retain this information for four (4) calendar years in the event of an OSC review and/or Internal Revenue Services (IRS) audit.
• If an employee is listed as Deceased on the NPAY752, obtain a copy of the death certificate and update the PayServ record. Employees are listed on the report as Deceased when the payroll record does not match the deceased information provided by SSA.
• When an agency is aware that an employee who has previously separated from State service is deceased, the agency must report this information to ensure any future payments due the employee will be taxed and reported accurately.In this situation, the date of death can be entered directly in as follows: Home>Workforce Administration>Personal Information>Modify a Person.  On the Biographical Details tab, Date of Death must be populated with MM/DD/YY.
• Follow existing OSC procedures for the issuance of corrected Form W-2s.

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be e-mailed to the Tax and Compliance mailbox.