Time limitations under the RRA

Section 9 of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) provides that the RRB's records of service and compensation are conclusive as to the amount of compensation paid during the period covered by the report, unless an error is called to the RRB's attention within four years of the day on which the report was required to be made. Employers are required to file with the RRB, on or before the last day of February, an annual report of service and compensation for employees who performed compensated service in the preceding calendar year. Likewise, the fact that no report of compensation was made is taken as conclusive that no compensation was paid, unless the failure to make a report of the compensation is called to the RRB's attention within four years of the day on which the report was required to be made.

For example, 2000 reports of service and compensation were due at the RRB on February 28, 2001. The last day to submit a corrected report of Tier compensation for the year 2000 would be February 27, 2005. On February 28, 2005, the time limit for adjustments to Tier compensation in 2000 will have expired.

Section 6 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) provides that the RRB's records of compensation are conclusive unless an error is called to the attention of the RRB within eighteen months of the date on which the return was required to be filed. The last day to submit a corrected report of RUIA compensation for the year 2000 would be August 31, 2002.

• the compensation was posted or not posted as the result of fraud on the part of the employer;

• the compensation was posted for the wrong person or wrong period;

• the earnings were erroneously reported to the Social Security Administration in the good faith belief by the employer or employee that such earnings were not covered under the Railroad Retirement Act;

• where a determination pertaining to the coverage under the Railroad Retirement Act of an individual, partnership, or company as an employer, is retroactive;

• in the judgment of the three-member Board, failure to make a correction would be inequitable.

An employer who discovers an error in a compensation report beyond the four-year period should submit Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments, accompanied by an explanation of the delay and a statement regarding the payment of applicable taxes.

An employee will not be credited with service months or Tier II compensation beyond the four-year period unless the employee establishes to the satisfaction of the Board that all employment taxes imposed by Sections 3201, 3211, and 3221 of title 26 of the Internal Revenue Code have been paid with respect to the compensation and service.

Reports adjusting prior-year service and compensation are due at the RRB by the end of the month following the calendar quarter in which the payment was made or the error or omission was determined. For example, if payment was made in July 2000 for a period of lost earnings in 1994 and 1995, the report would be due by October 31, 2000. If an employer is filing an adjustment that appears to be beyond the four-year period, such as in the above example, the employer should complete item 15 on the adjustment report. This item allows an employer to identify current payments that are allocated more than four years prior to that year. If the adjustment report is filed on magnetic media, the employer can put this information in the "Remarks" section of Form G-440, Report Specification Sheet.