20 CFR 404.501, 404.502, 404.521, and 404.527
A. Justification
Introduction/Authoring Laws and Regulations
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is seeking to provide a new, electronic repayment option to beneficiaries and recipients to recover benefit overpayments they have incurred. Sections 204 and 1634 (b)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act; the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-134), Vol. II; 31 U.S.C. 3711(f), 3716, 3717, and 3718, Vol. II of the United States Code; 5 U.S.C. 5514; and 20 CFR 404.501, 404.502, 404.521, and 404.527 of the Code of Federal Regulations provide SSA with the legal authority to recover overpayments.
SSA plans to implement an Internet remittance solution using Pay.gov. Pay.gov is an online collection portal developed and maintained by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury). The online remittance portal will offer beneficiaries and recipients another option to repay overpayments via credit card, debit card, and automated clearing house (ACH). This will be a new SSA application located on SocialSecurity.gov and will request the overpaid individuals’ Social Security Number (SSN) and dollar amount they wish to repay on their overpayment, and Treasury’s Pay.gov application will request and process the payment information on our behalf.
Description of Collection
SSA’s application for Treasury’s Pay.gov will only collect the overpaid individuals’ SSNs and the dollar amount they wish to repay on their overpayment through SSA.gov. Treasury’s Pay.gov application will collect the payment information. SSA will use the information we collect to reconcile the Pay.gov transactions, and update the overpaid individual’s balance on his or her record. Pay.gov will allow respondents to use this application anytime. The respondents will be individuals who have one Title II or XVI overpayment, and who wish to voluntarily repay their overpayments online through SocialSecurity.gov.
Use of Information Technology to Collect the Information
SSA is creating a new electronic, Internet repayment option under the agency’s Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA), and we expect 100 percent of the respondents to use the electronic version.
Why We Cannot Use Duplicate Information
The nature of the information we collect and the manner in which we collect it precludes duplication. We are providing the public another new, more convenient option to repay a benefit overpayment. SSA has multiple forms to collect from an overpaid individual, two of which are approved under their own OMB Control Numbers: 0960-0462 (SSA-4588 and SSA-4589); and 0960-0648 (SSA-1414). Although we have other ways to collect payment information from the public, this collection offers a new, electronic modality, and we have no other electronic version for the public to use to submit overpayments.
Minimizing Burden on Small Respondents
This collection does not affect small businesses or other small entities.
6. Consequence of Not Collecting Information or Collecting it Less Frequently
If we did not implement an electronic repayment option, we would continue to process benefit overpayments manually, potentially lose repayments in the mail, and experience a delay in processing to allow for mail and manual processing times. Since we only collect the information when individuals wish to repay their overpayments, we cannot collect it less frequently. There are no technical or legal obstacles to burden reduction.
7. 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 October 22, 2018, at 83 FR 53352 and we received no public comments. The 30-day FRN published on December 26, 2018, at 83 FR 66330. 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.
Assurances 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
The information collection does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.
Estimates of Public Reporting Burden
We estimate approximately 424,126 individuals will use the Internet Pay.gov once per month annually, to pay their overpayments, for a total of 848,252 hours.
Modality of Completion |
Number of Respondents |
Frequency of Response |
Number of Responses |
Average Burden Per Response (minutes) |
Estimated Total Annual Burden (hours) |
Internet Application for Pay.gov |
424,126 |
12 |
5,089,512 |
10 |
848,252 |
The total burden for this ICR is 848,252 hours. We based this figure on current management information data, and it represents burden hours. We did not calculate a separate cost burden.
13. Annual Cost to the Respondents (Other)
This collection does not impose a known cost burden on the respondents.
Annual Cost to Federal Government
The annual cost to the Federal Government is approximately $343,577. This estimate accounts for costs from the following areas: (1) SSA employee information collection and processing time; and (2) systems development, updating, and maintenance costs.
15. Program Changes or Adjustments to the Information Collection Request
This is a new application that increases the public reporting burden. We will update our figures once our management information is available. See #12 above for the burden figures.
16. Plans for Publication Information Collection Results
SSA will not publish the results of the information collection.
17. Displaying the OMB Approval Expiration Date
SSA is not requesting an exception to the requirement to display the OMB approval expiration date.
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).
B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods
SSA does not use statistical methods for this information collection.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | Title of Information Collection and Form Number(s) |
| Author | Naomi |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-15 |