Employers are required by law to report payroll expenses quarterly to the Social Security Administration on Form 941 for purposes of paying payroll taxes. Each employee must be identified on this form by a social security number (SSN). Once these payroll tax returns are received by the Social Security Administration (SSA), they will cross-check the name and the number in their database. If the two do not match, SSA will send a “mismatch” letter. These letters notify the employer that the SSN and the name of the employee do not match in the Social Security Administration’s records. These letters used to be sent only when 10% of the employers’ workforce resulted in a mismatch. However, this policy was revisited in the wake of the September 11 attacks and SSA is now sending out a mismatch letter if an employer has even one SSN and name that do not match on the 941. What do these letters mean, and what should a business do to correct the mismatch? This article will answer those questions.

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