File Edit Tips

Note:These checks apply to submissions formatted according to the Social Security Administration's Magnetic Media Reporting and Electronic Filing (MMREF) -1 standard only.

Select Online Error Reference Material to resolve errors on reports already submitted to SSA.

How to avoid common errors:
Balancing errors:	compare this year's RT and optional RU record totals with prior year totals to identify possible errors disallow negative numbers and non-numeric characters in RW, RO, RT, and RU record money fields check that all employee wage records begin with the letters RW or RO ensure that money field totals in RT and optional RU records are re-initialized for every report. EXAMPLE: The calculation of RT and RU money fields for Report #2 should not involve Report #1 money amounts. Online Error Reference has more information on balancing errors.
Medicare related errors in RW records:	ensure that the sum of Social Security Wages and Social Security Tips is nonzero if Social Security Tax is nonzero ensure that Medicare Wages and Tips is nonzero if Medicare Tax is nonzero if the sum of Social Security Wages and Social Security Tips is nonzero, ensure that Medicare Wages and Tips is greater than or equal to that sum. Online Error Reference has more information on Medicare related errors.
Errors related to tax year:	Ensure that the value provided in the RE record Tax Year field is a number between 1978 and the most recently completed tax year, not the current calendar year. Exception: If you are submitting a report for an employer who is going out of business and are intentionally submitting it before the tax year has ended, please label the physical media "TERMINATING BUSINESS - FUTURE TAX YEAR REPORT" and do not include reports for other tax years in the same submission. Online Error Reference has more information on invalid tax year errors.
Errors caused by missing or invalid record identifiers:	ensure that all records begin with the letters RA, RE, RW, RO, RS, RT, RU, or RF check that submissions contain exactly one RA and one RF record check that every RE record is followed by one or more RW records check that every RE record has exactly one corresponding RT record (and, if the report contains any optional RO records, one corresponding RU record) check that all records are in the proper MMREF-1 order (RA, { RE, [ RW, RO (if any), RS (if any) ], RT, RU (if any RO) }, RF - where { } and [ ] denote multiple iterations) Online Error Reference has more information on invalid record identifiers.
Errors caused by incorrect formatting:	if using physical media, execute a "test read" and examine the data read from the media to verify that the media is reliable and that no write errors occurred. if using a recycled tape, ensure that no extraneous data is left after the RF record from a previous write if using tape or cartridge, ensure that the block size is an even multiple of 512 and that the blocking factor does not exceed 45 Online Error Reference has more information on formatting.
Errors related to Employer Identification Number (EIN):	enter the submitter EIN in the RA record and the employer EIN in the RE record disallow non-numeric characters in the RE record Employer/Agent EIN field disallow 00, 07, 08, 09, 17, 18, 19, 28, 29, 49, 69, 70, 78, 79, and 89 in positions 1 and 2 of the RE record Employer/Agent EIN field verify that the EIN entered in the Employer/Agent EIN field is the EIN assigned to the employer (not the agent) unless you are intentionally reporting under the agent EIN. Online Error Reference has more information on invalid EIN.
Errors resulting from incorrect money amounts:	spot check to ensure that RW, RO, RT and RU record money fields are within the expected common-sense range and verify any unusually large or small values spot check to ensure that RW record values for Social Security Wages and Social Security Tips are limited to the correct yearly maximum subject to Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax spot check to ensure that RW record values for Social Security Tax, Medicare Tax, and Federal Income Tax are at the expected tax rates for the tax year and the taxable wage base.

Other References:

See Social Security Administration publications MMREF-1 and MMREF-2 for detailed file layouts.

The Employer Services Liaison Officer and staff for your region may be able to help you develop additional strategies for preventing resubmission notices. Liaison Officer and staff contact information is available by selecting How to Reach Us on www.socialsecurity.gov/employer

The Social Security Administration encourages employers and third-party submitters to use the AccuWage and AccuW2C software to verify the format of wage-data files before submitting them. AccuWage is for use with original files, and AccuW2C is for use with correction files. To download AccuWage and AccuW2C, select Wage Reporting Software on www.socialsecurity.gov/employer.

To speak with Employer Customer Service personnel call 1-800-772-6270. For TDD/TTY call 1-800-325-0778.