IS THAT SOCIAL SECURITY EMAIL ABOUT FORM W-2 FILING CHANGES FOR REAL?
Your business clients may have received an email with a header asking, “Did You Take the Necessary Steps Required to Access Business Services Online (BSO) Employer Services? The Filing Deadline for Wage Reporting is Approaching!” The e-mail included exhortations to “Act Now! Time is Running Out!”
Yes, it is real and here is what you need to know.
In prior guidance, the IRS had issued regulations requiring that information returns must be filed electronically if a taxpayer must file 250 or more in a calendar year. The regulations provide that the 250-return threshold is applied separately to each type of information return covered under the regulations.
By 2019, over 98.8% of information returns were already filed electronically. That same year, Congress passed the Taxpayer First Act—it was signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 1, 2019. The law focused on modernizing and improving the IRS.
One of the provisions of the Act (section 2301) sets the number of returns a filer may file without being required to file electronically at 10—down from 250. Earlier this year, the IRS issued final regulations amending the rules for filing returns and other documents electronically—among other things, the regulations officially shrunk the electronic-filing threshold down to 10 for all informational returns required to be filed on or after January 1, 2024. It changed the prior threshold of 250 per each type of information return to a total of 10 of all informational returns.
Employers must file W-2 forms with the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the IRS by January 31 following the tax year. That means Tax Year 2023 wage reports must be filed with the Social Security Administration by January 31, 2024.
To file electronically with SSA, you must have access to BSO, or Business Services Online. To use BSO, you have to register. BSO now requires additional levels of security to access employer services. Your prior BSO UserID and password can no be longer used to access BSO employer services. You must have a Social Security Online account, Login.gov, or ID.me credential to use the BSO application. You can use your existing Login.gov or ID.me credentials to log in. If you do not have a Social Security online account, a Login.gov, or ID.me credential, you will need to create one.
SSA has a toll-free line to help employers with wage reporting questions or problems (it’s at 1-800-772-6270 or TTY 1-800-325-0778, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time). You can also e-mail employerinfo@ssa.gov.
There’s also a toll-free line for questions about using Social Security’s Business Services Online website for filing Forms W-2 electronically (it’s at 1-888-772-2970, or TTY 1-800-325-0778, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time). You can also fax 1-410-597-0237 or e-mail bso.support@ssa.gov.
