Supporting Statement for Form SSA-4156
Employee Identification Statement
20 CFR 404.702
OMB No. 0960-0473
Justification
Introduction/Authoring Laws and Regulations
Section 205(c)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act and 20 CFR 404.702 of the Code of Federal Regulations require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to establish and maintain records of the wages and self-employment income of individuals. Whenever we receive reported earnings under a Social Security Number (SSN) that does not belong to a worker, SSA must identify the worker, determine the correct SSN to which SSA should credit the earnings, and remove the earnings from the incorrect Social Security record.
Description of Collection
When two or more individuals report earnings under the same SSN, SSA collects information on Form SSA-4156 to credit the earnings to the correct individual and the correct SSN. We send the SSA-4156 to the employer to (1) identify the employees involved; (2) resolve the discrepancy; and (3) credit the earnings to the correct SSN. The respondents are employers involved in erroneous wage reporting for an employee.
Use of Information Technology to Collect the Information
SSA did not create an electronic version of Form SSA-4156 under the agency’s Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) plan because only 4,750 respondents complete the form annually. This is less than the GPEA cut-off of 50,000.
Why We Cannot Use Duplicate Information
The nature of the information we collect and the manner in which we collect it preclude duplication. SSA does not use another collection instrument to obtain similar data.
Minimizing Burden on Small Respondents
This collection does not significantly affect small businesses or other small entities.
Consequence of Not Collecting Information or Collecting it Less Frequently
If we did not use Form SSA-4156, SSA would be unable to resolve discrepancies when two or more individuals show earnings under the same SSN. Since we only collect this information as necessary, on an individual basis to resolve erroneously posted earnings, we cannot collect it less frequently. There are no technical or legal obstacles to burden reduction.
Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances that would cause SSA to conduct this information collection in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.5.
Solicitation of Public Comment and Other Consultations with the Public
The 60-day advance Federal Register Notice published on January 12, 2017, at 82 FR 3838, and we received no public comments. The 30-day FRN published on May 23, 2017 at 82 FR 23695. If we receive any comments in response to this Notice, we will forward them to OMB.
Payment or Gifts to Respondents
SSA does not provide payments or gifts to the respondents.
Assurance of Confidentiality
SSA protects and holds confidential the information it collects in accordance with
42 U.S.C. 1306, 20 CFR 401 and 402, 5 U.S.C. 552 (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974) and OMB Circular No. A-130.
Justification for Sensitive Questions
Item 6 of Form SSA-4156 asks for a physical description of the employee, which we only use to assist with identification. In these situations, SSA knows at least one worker is using another worker’s name or SSN. When SSA is unable to contact the persons involved, we need physical descriptions to distinguish between the SSN holder and the employee who is using the incorrect SSN. If SSA is able to contact one of the individuals involved, we use the information for identification purposes only.
Estimates of Public Reporting Burden
Approximately 4,750 respondents take 10 minutes each to complete the SSA-4156. Accordingly, the burden is 792 hours. This figure represents burden hours, and we did not calculate a separate cost burden.
Annual Cost to the Respondents
This collection does not impose a known cost burden on the respondents.
Annual Cost to the Federal Government
The annual cost to the Federal Government is approximately $7,315. This estimate is a projection of the costs for printing and distributing the collection instrument, and for collecting the information.
Program Changes or Adjustments to the Information Collection Request
There are no changes to the public reporting burden.
Plans for Publication Information Collection Results
SSA will not publish the results of the information collection.
Displaying the OMB Approval Expiration Date
OMB granted an exemption from the requirement to print the OMB expiration date on its program forms. SSA produces millions of public-use forms with life cycles exceeding those of an OMB approval. Since SSA does not periodically revise and reprint its public use forms (e.g., on an annual basis), OMB granted this exemption so SSA would not have to destroy stocks of otherwise useable forms with expired OMB approval dates, avoiding Government waste.
Exceptions to Certification Statement
SSA is not requesting an exception to the certification requirements at 5 CFR 1320.9 and related provisions at 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods
SSA does not use statistical methods for this information collection.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | 225927 |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-23 |