Social Security’s time limits for correcting earnings record
Yesterday I gave my own personal example of finding out that my Social Security earnings record was wrong, and the only one to blame was myself ! Today we will look at the time limits and what you can do about correcting errors in your records. The Social Security Act defines the basic statute of limitations beyond which earnings ordinarily may not be corrected: 3 years, 3 months, and 15 days after the close of the taxable year in which wages are paid. However, the law also defines exceptions to protect Social Security contributors from unfair treatment because of any delay on the part of the Social Security Administration in processing earnings. The exceptions permit us to correct errors after the statute has expired and include authority for us to:
- Confirm records with tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service;
- Correct errors due to employee omissions from processed employer reports or missing reports;
- Correct errors “on the face of the record,” that is, errors we can find by examining our records of processed reports; and
- Include wages reported by an employer as paid to an individual but not shown in our records.
If you or someone you know has become disabled and is seeking Social Security benefits, please e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555) at once, as there are strict time deadlines with such important claims.