106-3           SSA Social Security Administration BENEFICIARY EARNINGS EXCHANGE RECORD SYSTEM ( BEERS Benefit Earnings Exchange Record System )

Under federal law, data exchange requirements and procedures for processing and safeguarding SSA Social Security Administration / BEERS Benefit Earnings Exchange Record System (earned and pension income) and IRS Internal Revenue Service (unearned income) matches are basically the same.  Only the authorized PIA Program Integrity & Analysis employee receives the BEERS Benefit Earnings Exchange Record System alerts and inquiry access is not permitted.  Refer to section 106-2 for information on the procedures that also apply to processing BEERS Benefit Earnings Exchange Record System alerts.  The SSA Social Security Administration match is different from the IRS Internal Revenue Service match in the following ways:

• SSA Social Security Administration provides annual earnings, pension, and self-employment data for all individuals whose SSNs are matched with the data as reported to the Internal Revenue Service on the W-2 and W-2P income statements.  The information is extracted from IRS Internal Revenue Service tax files and is stored in the SSA Social Security Administration earnings record file ( ERF Earnings Record File ) system for a particular tax year.  The ERF Earnings Record File system is updated three or four times a year.

• All requests for earnings and pension data are processed through the SSA Social Security Administration beneficiary and earnings exchange (BENDEX) system and returned to the agency on the beneficiary earnings exchange record ( BEERS Benefit Earnings Exchange Record System ).   DPA Division of Public Assistance provides periodic tapes containing the names and SSNs of all individuals who have not been added to the SSA Social Security Administration BENDEX system.  The tape includes individuals who are benefiting from Temporary Assistance and Medicaid Programs.  The BEERS Benefit Earnings Exchange Record System interface excludes households who only receive SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

• Once EIS Eligibility Information System adds an individual's SSN Social Security Number to the BENDEX system for earnings information exchange, any new or updated information will generate an automatic report ( BEERS Benefit Earnings Exchange Record System record) to the agency.  The agency also submits a deletion record on all cases that were denied or closed after the individual was added to the BENDEX system.

• If an individual is using more than one SSN Social Security Number , the ERF Earnings Record File and BENDEX systems have capabilities to locate all data reported for each number.

• SSA Social Security Administration data will give the authorized PIA Program Integrity & Analysis employee leads to employment that have not been reported on the State Department of Labor wage match such as out-of-state employment and self-employment income.

• SSA Social Security Administration annual data will be available about the same time of the year as IRS Internal Revenue Service data (September).

Pension data includes both the amount of pension paid for a calendar year and the name and address of the payer of the pension.