Addendum - 0598

Addendum to Supporting Statement for Form SSA-820-BK

Work Activity Report - Self-Employment

20 CFR 404.1520(b), 404.1571-404.1576, 404-1584-404.1593, and 416-971-416.976

OMB No. 0960-0598

Minor Revisions to the Collection Instrument

SSA is making the following revisions:

• Change #1: Page 2, first paragraph, third sentence should read:  “This pamphlet is also available at www.ssa.go/pubs/10095.html online.”

Justification #1: Added the word “online” to the end of the sentence. Agency guidance require that we do not end a sentence with a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

• Change #2: Page 2, under the section: If You Have Questions, first bullet should read: “Visit our website at www.ssa.gov to find general information about Social Security.”

Justification #2: Changed the URL to reflect the acronym “SSA” in lieu of “Social Security.” Agency guidance require that we use the acronym in URLs.

• Change #3: Page 2, referral paragraph’s Universal Text Identifier (UTI), fifth bullet, replace with the following language:

• If you are outside the United States or its territories:

  • If you are in Canada, visit www.ssa.gov/foreign/canada.htm to find the office that services your area.

  • Contact your nearest Federal Benefits Unit (FBU).  Visit www.ssa.gov/foreign/foreign.htm for a list of FBUs.

  • Write to the Social Security Administration at:

P.O. Box 17769

Baltimore, Maryland 21235-7769

USA

Justification #3: All U.S. Embassies, Consulate Generals, and Consular Agencies outside the designated 21 Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) posts are considered non-claims taking posts (NCTPs).  Effective October 1, 2017, NCTPs began deferring all Social Security Administration (SSA) inquiries to an assigned FBU, except for inquiries concerning the following:  interviews for Social Security Number (SSN) applicants above age 12; Consultative Exams and medical appointments; field investigations:  travel; investigations: in office; representative payee verification; services related to restricted countries; and, authentication/certification of documents and intake of initial claims.  NCTPs may perform these specific tasks with prior authorization from a Regional Federal Benefits Officer.  Therefore, we need to revise instructions directing beneficiaries to U.S. Embassies, Consulate Generals, and Consular Agencies to direct applicants or customers to FBUs for most services, which will be provided only by the 21 U.S. Embassies, Consulate Generals, and Consular Agencies designated as FBUs.

• Change #4: Page 3, we are removing the words: "Claim Number(s) & BIC"; and deleting the entire field.

Justification #4: The number holders SSN will propagate if the beneficiary is receiving benefits off of someone else’s record. This goes against the agencies initiative to replace SSNs with Beneficiary Notice Control number (BNC#). In addition, technicians are familiar with using the beneficiaries BNC# to locate information about entitlements on another individual’s record.

• Change #5: Page 3, third field, upper right hand side of page, currently, the word “DATE” is bolded and all caps.  We are removing the bold and the all caps so it reads as follows:  “Date.”

Justification #5: The word “Date” should not be bolded or all caps for consistency with other form fields.

• Change #6: Throughout the form, we are removing "Claim #:" and replacing it with "BNC#:” This affects the following instances:

  • Page 4, top right side

  • Page 5, top right side

  • Page 6, top right side

  • Page 7, top right side

Justification #6: On September 15, 2017, the President signed into law H.R. 624, the SSN Fraud Prevention Act of 2017, which became Public Law No. 115-59. The law, among other provisions, restricts the inclusion of SSNs on documents the Federal government sends by mail and requires Federal agencies to issue related regulations outlining when inclusion of the SSN is necessary on mailed documents within five years of enactment. Additionally, the law requires agencies to report to Congress on implementation efforts to remove SSNs from documents agencies send by mail, with the first report due 30 days after enactment and annually thereafter for five years.

As part of the agency’s implementation strategy, we plan to remove the full SSN and, as applicable, replace it with a BNC# on each mailed document. The BNC# is a secure 13‑character alphanumeric code used to identify a mailed document that belongs to a beneficiary.

• Change #7: Page 4, Question 6, 1^st bullet:  we are adding a question mark at the end of the sentence.  It will now read as follows: “How many hours per month (on average) does or did the other person(s) spend on management duties?”

Justification #7: We are adding the question mark to reflect that the sentence is asking a question.

• Change #8: We are revising the PRA statement on this form.

Justification #8: We are revising the PRA statement to reflect our current boilerplate language.  The current language, which dates back to the last reprint of the form, is now outdated.

• Change #9: We are revising the Privacy Act statement on this form.

Justification #9: SSA’s Office of the General Counsel is conducting a systematic review of SSA’s Privacy Act Statements on agency forms. As a result, SSA is updating the Privacy Act Statement on this form.

These changes do not affect the burden for this information collection. We will implement these revisions upon OMB’s approval.