Record Changes #
A new Box 12 Code GG money field, Income from Qualified Equity Grants Under Section 83(i), has been added to the:- RO (Employee Optional) Record in positions 122 – 132
- RU (Total Optional) Record in positions 160 - 174
A new Box 12 Code HH money field, Aggregate Deferrals Under Section 83(i) Elections as of the Close of the Calendar Year, has been added to the:
- RO (Employee Optional) Record in positions 133 - 143
- RU (Total Optional) Record in positions 175 – 189
Other Changes #
- The Social Security Wage Base for tax year 2018 is $128,400.
- The employer and employee tax rate for Social Security will be withheld at 6.2 percent (up to $7,960.80).
- The 2018 Social Security and Medicare coverage threshold for Household wages is $2,100.
- Record names were standardized throughout the document.
- Section 1.1 – Filing Requirements: New Box 12 Code GG, Income from Qualified Equity Grants Under Section 83(i), was added to the answer to the question: What are the money fields that are not maintained by SSA?
- Section 1.1 – Filing Requirements: New Box 12 Code HH, Aggregate Deferrals Under Section 83(i) Elections as of the Close of the Calendar Year and Box 12 Code S, Simple Retirement Account, have been added to the answer to the question: What are the money fields maintained by SSA on an employee’s earnings record?
- Section 4.2 – Rules: A new question and answer was added to Section 4.2 concerning acceptable E-mail domains.
- Section 4.7 – RW (Employee) Record and Section 4.10 – RT (Total) Record: Established a valid beginning tax year range of 2017 for Code FF money field, Permitted Benefits Under a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement, in positions 474 – 484 in the RW (Employee) Record and positions 400 – 414 in the RT (Total) Record.
- Appendix B - 10.0 – Correctable EFW2 Fields Through an EFW2C File: Section 10.3: RO (Employee Optional) Record: New Box 12 Codes GG, Income from Qualified Equity Grants Under Section 83(i), and HH, Aggregate Deferrals Under Section 83(i) Elections as of the Close of the Calendar Year, were added to the list of RO (Employee Optional) Record correctable money fields.
- Appendix E - 13.0 – Paper Form W-3/W-2 Boxes and EFW2 Format Fields Cross Reference: The following changes were made to the cross reference chart: o Paper Form W2 Box 9 name tag added: Verification Code o Paper Form W2 Code P name tag modified from “Excludable moving expense reimbursements paid directly to employee” to “Excludable moving expense reimbursements paid directly to a member of the U.S. Armed Services”
- Paper Form W2 Codes GG and HH were added to the list of RO (Employee Optional) Record money fields as they relate to the EFW2 format
- Appendix H – 16.0 - Maximum Wage and Tax Table: This table has been modified to include tax year 2018 Social Security wage amount changes, including Household wages.
- Some editorial changes and corrections for clarification have also been made.
Important Notes #
The Social Security Administration (SSA) will return electronic and paper wage files which contain a W-2 with any of the following conditions:- Medicare Wages and Tips less than the sum of Social Security Wages and Social Security Tips
- Social Security Tax greater than zero and Social Security Wages and Social Security Tips equal to zero; and
- Medicare Tax greater than zero and Medicare Wages and Tips equal to zero.
SSA will return electronic and paper wage files which contain a W-2 with any of the following conditions for employment type Household only:
- Sum of Social Security Wages and Social Security Tips less than the yearly minimum for coverage; and
- Medicare Wages and Tips less than the yearly minimum for coverage.
If the error condition occurs, SSA will notify submitters and employers by E-Mail or postal mail to correct their wage file, retest in AccuWage Online and resubmit the wage file to SSA. To ensure prompt notification, please verify that your E-Mail address in the RA (Submitter) Record is correct and complete.
FILING REMINDERS #
Electronic Filing- For tax year 2018, BSO filers may upload their files beginning December 9, 2018. Terminating businesses may file before that date. Please refer to Section 2.3: Terminating a Business, for more information.
- For tax year 2018, Electronic Data Transfer (EDT) filers may transmit their files beginning December 9, 2018.
Filing Deadlines #
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) deadline for electronic filing is January 31, 2019 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw2w3.pdf
Other Filing Reminders #
- SSA’s BSO no longer accepts incorrectly formatted W-2 files. Please test your wage file through AccuWage Online (within BSO) before uploading your wage file. For additional information, please visit SSA’s Accuwage website https://www.ssa.gov/employer/accuwage.
- SSA encourages the use of AccuWage Online to test your files. (See Section 6.)
- SSA is not able to process multiple data files in a .ZIP file. Upload and send only one wage file at a time. Please see Section 7.3 (Data Requirements) for additional information.
- If you are running anti-spam software, be sure to configure it so that Social Security Administration (SSA) correspondence is not identified as spam.
- Make sure that your data file is in text format.
- Make sure each data file submitted is complete (RA (Submitter) Record through RF (Final) Record).
- All submitters must obtain a BSO User Identification (ID) through our registration process (see Section 5) and must enter that BSO User ID in the RA (Submitter) Record.
- Make sure the BSO User ID assigned to the employee who is attesting to the accuracy of the W-2 data is included in the RA (Submitter) Record. See Section 5 (User Identification (User ID)/Password Registration Information) for additional information.
- RA (Submitter) Record Information: The National Association of Computerized Tax Processors (NACTP) code is only needed for companies that sell their software to others. Companies that develop their own software should not request an NACTP code.
- RA (Submitter) Record Information: It is imperative that the submitter’s telephone number and E-Mail address be entered in the appropriate positions. Failure to include correct and complete submitter contact information may delay processing.
- If you file 250 or more Forms W-2 during a calendar year, you must file them electronically unless the IRS grants you a waiver. (You may be charged a penalty if you fail to file electronically when required.)
- If your organization files on behalf of multiple employers, include no more than 1 million RW (Employee) Records or 50,000 RE (Employer) Records per submission. Following these guidelines will help to ensure that your wage data is processed in a timely manner.
- RE (Employer) Record Information: Following the last RW/RO/RS Record for the employee, create an RT/RU/RV Record, then create either: The RE (Employer) Record for the next employer in the submission; or Social Security Administration Publication No. 42-007 EFW2 Tax Year 2018 V.1 v An RF (Final) Record if this is the last report in the submission.
- If no RS (State) Records are prepared, do not prepare an RV (State Total) Record.
- Do not create a file that contains any data after the RF (Final) Record. Your submission will not be processed if it contains data after the RF (Final) Record.
- Be sure to confirm that the tax year entered in the RE (Employer) Record is correct.
- Be sure the Employer Identification Number (EIN) is entered correctly in the RE (Employer) Record. This is especially important for Agents; make sure the Employer EIN is entered in the correct positions. Please see Section 2.1.2. for additional information on Agent reporting. Note: This is the EIN SSA will use to post the W-2 data.
- The Tax Jurisdiction Code (position 220 on the RE (Employer)) Record relates to the type of income tax that the earnings are subject to.
- Third-party sick pay recap reports must not be filed electronically. For further information, refer to IRS Publication 15-A (Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide). (See Section 6.)
- For general information about employer wage reporting, visit SSA’s employer website at https://www.ssa.gov/employer/