You can still submit the information on a paper Form SSA-131 or cartridge models 3490 and 3480. But diskettes and all other cartridges are no longer accepted.

SWP refers to wages paid to employees after they’ve retired or back pay awarded by a court or government agency.

The Dept. of Homeland Security has issued its final rules for handling Social Security Number no-match letters. The rule will go into effect as soon as the federal court lifts an earlier injunction.

The new rules provide employers with a “safe harbor.” To qualify, you would have to determine within 30 days if the discrepancy was due to a typo or clerical error. If so, you must correct the error, notify the Social Security Administration and keep documentation of the steps you took above, along with the employee’s I-9.

Discrepancy wasn’t on your end? Then you have five days to tell the employee. He or she will then get 90 days to resolve the discrepancy with SSA. (The clock starts ticking on the day your company receives the no-match letter.)

The entire rule is available for download.

Two new services make your life a little easier:

1. Special Wage Payments (SWP)– In Jan. 2009, SSA’s Electronic Wage Reporting suite will have an application for TY ’08 that allows you to electronically submit SWP data.
2. Electronic Wage Reporting (EWR)– EWR services will be improved so that registered users with multiple Employer Identification Numbers can have them all associated with a single User ID. 

Password update

Don’t forget: Due to security upgrades, the next time you try to log onto the site, you’ll have to provide answers to five questions. The information will be used as a backup in case you ever forget your password in the future. Without a password, if you can answer three of the five security questions, you’ll be allowed to log on and reset the password.

The changes are designed to make the process of logging in and using the site more streamlined. Among the changes you’ll notice:

• User IDs will not be deactivated over an expired password. (Especially helpful if you only access the site once a year.)
• Passwords now have to be changed every 90 days instead of every 365 days. But, if you miss the 90-day mark, you’ll still be able to log in with your “old” password. Instead of denying access, the site will simply remind you to update your password.
• During registration (for new and current users) you’ll be asked a series of five questions. If you ever forget your password, those answers will be used to verify who you are and give you access.

The Dept. of Homeland Security has designated E-Verify as a mandatory employment verification system for all federal contractors.

The free Web-based program is run by the Citizenship and Immigration Services in partnership with the Social Security Administration.

If you’re enrolled to use the system, it can tell you within seconds if a new hire’s information shows he or she is cleared to work in this country.

So far, more than 4 million employment verifications have been run (by more than 69,000 employers). With success: 99.5% of qualified employees have been cleared automatically through E-verify.

• Social Security wage base is $102,000.
• The Social Security coverage threshold for domestic employee wages is $1,600.
• Two new sections have been added that provide resources for processing questions and information on how to report money amounts that exceed the field length.
• Language has been modified in several records to clarify filing issues.

You can get all the details at SSA’s site.  

If you downloaded them before March 11, you’ll need to either get updated copies or make the following corrections to the forms and instructions:

• W-2 — Pg. 10, under “Due Dates,” it should state that Copies B, C, and 2 should be furnished to employees by Feb. 2, ’09, and Copy A should be filed with the Social Security Admininstration by March 2, ’09.
• W-3 — In the section “When to file” the correct info is for paper W-2s to be mailed under the cover of Form W-3 Transmittal by March 2, ’09.

The employer instructions also have been corrected to reflect the right deadlines, as well as the penalties for filing late. You can get a downloadable document with all the details at IRS’ site.

Here’s what you need to know for now: Although businesses aren’t required to follow the proposed rule, it does give you some clearer guidance on what to do if, and when, you receive a No-match letter.

If you follow the guidance — which basically outlines steps you can take within the next 90 days to rectify the No-match — your company should have safe harbor against any enforcement action the Feds might take.

You can download all the latest details of the proposal at DHS’s site.