We think it relevant to remind individuals to periodically check on their Social Security earnings and future benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides an online service which we discussed in our December 2, 2014 and March 12, 2013 blog postings.
The SSA Office of the Inspector General issued an audit report showing that there are 6.5 million SS numbers who are age 112 or older that do not have a death entry. Are Americans living longer, or are the SSN’s records in error? Ironically, the Gerontology Research Group reported that only 42 people worldwide had reached age 112.
The SSA Office of the Inspector General conducted this audit to determine whether the SSA had controls in place to annotate death information on the SSA’s numerical identification system (acronym: Numident) for persons who exceeded maximum reasonable life expectancies. The vast majority of these SSNs were assigned to individuals before the year 1972. The goal of this audit was to resolve these discrepancies to improve the accuracy and completeness of the Death Master File (DMF), and to help prevent future misuse of these SSNs.
It was estimated that over $3 billion of benefits were paid out to 67,000 of these “aged” recipients. Back in 2013, it was discovered that although the SSA received an electronic state death certificate record, the SSA did not record the death and continued to issue SS benefits. It was reported that a woman died in 1989, and for 23 years, her son concealed her death, forged her signature on her checks, and cashed in $280,000 of benefits.
The use of SSNs has become much more restrictive than in past years. The IRS no longer prints SSNs on the outside of its mailing envelopes or tax forms. States that used SSNs as driver license numbers are changing their ways. Medicare is in the process of changing its procedures so that SSNs will no longer be used as the Medicare ID number. Individuals are no longer providing health care providers with their SSNs. These and other steps to limit the public use of SSNs will hopefully limit SS and ID theft.
If you want to discuss your business or personal tax planning, tax preparation and other financial concerns with an experienced tax professional, including how to adopt an age-weighted profit-sharing plan, we invite you to call 610-594-2601 today to make an appointment at our Exton PA CPA office to discuss your situation. You can also schedule a consultation at Click Here.
