(a) Reporting requirements and conditions under which a report of earnings, that is, wages and/or net earnings from self-employment, is required.

(1) If you have not reached full retirement age (see §404.409(a)) and you are entitled to a monthly benefit, other than only a disability insurance benefit, you are required to report to us the total amount of your earnings (as defined in §404.429) for each taxable year. This report will enable SSA to pay you accurate benefits and avoid both overpayments and underpayments.

(2) If your wages and/or net earnings from self-employment in any month(s) of the year are below the allowable amount (see §§404.446 and 404.447), your report should include this information in order to establish your grace year (see §404.435) and possible eligibility for benefits for those months.

(3) Your report to us for a taxable year should be filed on or before the 15th day of the fourth month following the close of the taxable year; for example, April 15 when the beneficiary's taxable year is a calendar year. An income tax return or form W-2, filed timely with the Internal Revenue Service, may serve as the report required to be filed under the provisions of this section, where the income tax return or form W-2 shows the same wages and/or net earnings from self-employment that must be reported to us. Although we may accept W-2 information and special payment information from employers, you still have primary responsibility for making sure that the earnings we use for deduction purposes are correct. If there is a valid reason for a delay, we may grant you an extension of up to 4 months to file this report.

(4) You are not required to report to us if:

(i) You reached full retirement age before the first month of your entitlement to benefits; or

(ii) Your benefit payments were suspended under the provisions described in §404.456 for all months of a taxable year before the year of full retirement age, or for all months prior to your full retirement age in the full retirement age year, unless you are entitled to benefits as an auxiliary or survivor and your benefits are reduced for any month in the taxable year because of earnings and there is another person entitled to auxiliary or survivor's benefits on the same record, but living in a different household.

(b) Report required by person receiving benefits on behalf of another. When you receive benefits as a representative payee on behalf of a beneficiary (see subpart U of this part), it is your duty to report any earnings of the beneficiary to us.

(c) Information required. If you are the beneficiary, your report should show your name, address, Social Security number, the taxable year for which the report is made, and the total amount of your wages and/or net earnings from self employment during the taxable year. If you are a representative payee, your report should show the name, address, and Social Security number of the beneficiary, the taxable year for which the report is made, and the total earnings of the beneficiary, as well as your name, address, and Social Security number.

(d) Requirement to furnish requested information. You, the beneficiary (or the person reporting on his/her behalf) are required to furnish any other information about earnings and services that we request for the purpose of determining the correct amount of benefits payable for a taxable year (see §404.455).

(e) Extension of time for filing report—

(1) Request for extension to file report. Your request for an extension of time, or the request of your authorized agent, must be in writing and must be filed at a Social Security Administration office before your report is due. Your request must include the date, your name, the Social Security number of the beneficiary, the name and Social Security number of the person filing the request if other than the beneficiary, the year for which your report is due, the amount of additional time requested, the reason why you require this extension (see §404.454), and your signature.

(2) Evidence that extension of time has been granted. If you do not receive written approval of an extension of time for making your report of earnings, it will be presumed that no extension of time was granted. In such case, if you do not file on time, you will need to establish that you had good cause (§404.454) for filing your report after the normal due date.

[70 FR 28815, May 19, 2005]