Supporting Statement--0583

Supporting Statement

Internet Request for Replacement SSA-1099/SSA-1042S

20 CFR 401.45

OMB No. 0960-0583

A. Justification

1. Section 6050F of the Intemal Revenue Code (26 USC 6050F of the United States Code) requires the Social Security Administration (SSA) to provide to Social Security beneficiaries a statement of the aggregate amount of social security benefits paid, the aggregate amount of social security benefits repaid and the aggregate reductions in benefits on account of amounts received under a workmen's compensation act during the calendar year. This information is provided to the beneficiaries in Form SSA-1099/SSA-1042S, Social Security Benefit Statement, and is used by the Internal Revenue Service to compute taxation of Social Security benefits. SSA has an electronic request form which will allow the public to request a replacement Form SSA-1099/SSA-1042S through the Internet. The information is collected to verify identity and issue a replacement Form SSA-1099/SSA-1042S in cases where the original form is not available; i.e., lost, stolen, mutilated, etc.

SSA collects this information by authority of 5 USC 552a(e)(10) of the Privacy Act of 1974 which requires agencies to establish appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to insure the security and confidentiality of records. Also, 5 USC 552a(f)(2) & (3) requires agencies to establish requirements for identifying an individual who requests a record or information pertaining to that individual and to establish procedures for disclosure of personal information. SSA promulgated Privacy Act rules in the Code of Federal Regulations at 20 CFR 401.45.

2. Form SSA-1099/SSA-1042S is required by the beneficiary public to correctly compute tax liability on Social Security benefits received during the preceding year. The information collected is to be used exclusively to replace the SSA-1099/SSA-1042S and to verify the identity of the requester. The information is not retained after collection. Prior to SSA responding to requests for personal information, we must verify the requester's identity obtaining name, Social Security Number (SSN) and Date of Birth (DOB). Depending on the individual’s current status in SSA’s records, we may also ask the amount of the last payment, the month of the last monthly payment or mother’s maiden name and place of birth that is compared to information contained in our records. Most of the information collected is to be used exclusively to verify the identity of the requester. The field for other last names is optional and used to help us match the person in cases where the person has changed their name (e.g., marriage) and not notified Social Security. We also ask for the deceased's Social Security Number, if the statement is for someone other than the requester, and the reason the original document is not available. We use the gender information, when provided, for management information purposes. Respondents are beneficiaries who are requesting a replacement SSA-1099/SSA-1042S.

3. This information collection is automated. The requester keys in identifying information, transmits it over the Internet to SSA, which is compared to existing electronic records in real time. If the information keyed matches with SSA records, the requester is allowed to proceed to additional screens to make his/her specific request for Form SSA-1099/ SSA‑1042S. This collection does not cover the paper version of this form; it only covers the Internet version. Therefore, 100 percent of the responses are via the Internet.

4. Currently, there is no existing SSA form for the purpose of requesting a replacement SSA‑1099/SSA-1042S via the Internet. If the requester prefers, he/she may contact SSA’s national 800 number or visit a local field office (FO) to request a replacement SSA‑1099/SSA-1042S.

5. This collection does not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small businesses or other small entities.

6. The replacement SSA-1099/SSA-1042S is a cyclical workload that starts January 31 and ends around April 15 of each year. Making the service available electronically saves the public from the effort of phoning SSA or their local FO. The Agency must adequately verify and provide the SSA-1099/SSA-1042S to beneficiaries. Failure to replace form SSA-1099/SSA-1042S timely may result in late tax filing for affected beneficiaries. Also, since this information is only collected on an as needed basis, it cannot be collected less frequently. There are no technical or legal obstacles that prevent burden reduction.

7. There are no special circumstances that would cause this information collection to be conducted in a manner that is not consistent with 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. The 60-day advance Federal Register Notice was published on July 7, 2006 at 71 FR 38681, and SSA has received no public comments. The second Notice was published on October 2, 2006, at 71 FR 58041. There have been no outside consultations with members of the public.

The burden hours stated in both Federal Register Notices is incorrect and SSA did not notice the discrepency before the publication of the 2^nd Federal Register Notice, as the mistake in burden information has been in our system since 2003. The correct burden information is listed below in #12, and is noted on the correct ROCIS screens.

9. SSA provides no payments or gifts to the respondents.

10. SSA will assure the confidentiality of the requester in several ways:

All electronic requests will be encrypted using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) security protocol. SSL encryption prevents a third party from reading the transmitted data even if intercepted. This protocol is an industry standard, and is used by banks such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America for Internet banking.

• The requester will be given adequate warnings that the Internet is an open system and there is no absolute guarantee that others will not intercept and decrypt the personal information that they have entered. They will be advised of alternative methods of requesting a replacement SSA-1099/SSA-1042S, i.e., personal visit to a FO or call to the 800 number.

• The replacement SSA-1099/SSA-1042S will be returned to the requester by

First-class U.S. mail to the address of record, rather than by way of the Internet.

• The Social Security Administration maintains a Privacy Policy for its Internet services that ensures confidentiality of all information provided by the requester of a replacement SSA-1099/SSA-1042S.

Our Internet privacy policy is:

• You do not have to give us personal information to visit our site.

• We collect personally identifiable information (name, e-mail address, Social Security number, or other unique identifier) only if specifically and knowingly provided by you.

• Personally identifying information you provide will be used only in connection with Social Security Online or for such other purposes as are described at the point of collection.

• We sometimes perform statistical analyses of user behavior in order to measure customer interest in the various areas of our site. We will disclose this information to third parties only in aggregate form; i.e., how many visitors to the site; what files were accessed.

• We do not give, sell or transfer any personal information to a third party.

• We do not enable "cookies." (A "cookie" is a file placed on your hard drive by a Web site that allows it to monitor your use of the site, usually without your knowledge.)

The information provided on this form is protected and held confidential in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974).

11. The information collection does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.

12. We estimate that 21,000 requesters use the Internet to make their requests. It takes about 10 minutes to complete the screen to request the information. Therefore, the total annual burden is 3,500 hours. The total burden is reflected as burden hours, and no separate cost burden has been calculated.

13. There is no cost burden to the respondents.

14. Since the information collection process for the Internet Request for Replacement SSA-1099/SSA-1042S is completed online, there is no annual cost to the Federal Government for printing and distribution costs. It is not possible to determine the cost for upkeep of the Internet site or collecting the information, as these costs are combined with the upkeep of SSA’s website as a whole.

15. The change in burden information is due to an error in calculation which has now been corrected. SSA incorrectly sited the burden in the previous Supporting Statement as 1.5 minutes per response, when the correct burden is 10 minutes per response. Now that this discrepancy has been found, and the correction has been made, SSA has already made sure that the correct burden information is sited in the Supporting Statements of all Internet applications so that this will not happen again.

16. The results of the information collection will not be published.

17. We are not requesting an exception to the requirement to display an expiration date .

18. SSA is not requesting an exception to the certification requirements at 5 CFR 1320.9 and related provisions at 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Statistical methods are not used for this information collection.

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