Volume 9, Issue 2006

Before filing W-2 Wage and Tax Statements with the Social Security Administration, employers may want to verify that employee names and Social Security numbers match Social Security's records. Making sure up front that this information is correct could save time-consuming correspondence later on and reduce the number of W-2C's that have to be prepared.

The Social Security Administration offers two online verification options. Employers can either:

• Input up to 10 names and Social Security numbers (per screen) and receive the results right away; or

• Use a spreadsheet software program to create a "Social Security Number Verification Service" file containing up to 250,000 names and Social Security numbers for verification.

Employers using the second option must put the information in a specified format. Results will usually be received on the next government business day after the spreadsheet file is uploaded.