Protection & Advocacy, Inc. Reporting Changes in Earned Income to Social Security You must keep your own records: If you receive SSI or Social Security Disability benefits, you must keep a copy of everything Social Security sends you. Save the envelope. keep a copy of everything you send Social Security. take notes whenever you talk to someone at Social Security or whenever you meet with someone at Social Security. Write down the person's name and what you talked about and the date you talked or met. We recommend that you three-hole punch your papers and put them in a notebook. You must keep your own records because you cannot count on Social Security's filing or recordkeeping system. If you receive SSI: SSI regulations say that you must report to Social Security any change in income that may affect the amount of your benefits by the 10th of the month following the income change month. See 20 C.F.R. 416.704 through 416.714 and Question & Answer (Q&A) 54 in the Social Security (SS) Manual. If there is no change from the prior month, you do not report. Under Social Security's system, a change in income in one month will affect your SSI check two months later. If your income in January is lower than your income in December, you report the change by February 10, and your SSI check will be adjusted upwards in March. Although you have until the 10th of a month to report changes in your income the prior month, we recommend you get the change information to Social Security by the 5th or 6th of the month. The income you receive may reduce the amount of your SSI. See Q&As 34, 36, 37 and 38 of the SS Manual. For instance, if you only receive SSI and you receive $225 for consultant work in January and you have no other income, your countable income for January will be $70. Your check for March should be reduced $70: Gross earned income...................... $225.00 Less $20 any-income deduction......... (20.00) Less $65 earned income deduction...... (65.00) Subtotal.............................. $ 140.00 Less 50% of the subtotal.................. (70.00) Countable SSI Income.................... $ 70.00 If you receive Social Security (Title II) benefits such as Social Security Disability Income or Child Disability Benefits: Social Security regulations require that you report work activity that may impact on your eligibility. 20 C.F.R. 404.1588, Q&A 56 in the SS Manual. That means you must report if you earn $200 or more a month because those month would count as a trial work period (TWP) month. If you have eight trial work months within the past 60 months, earnings of more than $500 a month in a ninth month may trigger termination of your Social Security disability benefits (SSDI or CDB) even though you are someone who is working even though still disabled. See Q&As 41, 42, 48, 49 and 50 in the Social Security Manual. If you receive both SSI and Social Security (Title II) benefits: You need to report to both the SSI and and Title II Social Security unit. They do not talk to each other. Send a copy of what you send to the Title XVI unit to the same address but write on the copy "Attention Title II unit." Note: Social Security counts gross earned income, not your take home pay. Social Security counts your earnings before there are any deductions. Social Security does not count as income reimbursement for expenses -- such as for mileage, parking, meals. How to use the Attached Report Forms: The Form Addressed to the SSI Unit: Fill in the address of your Social Security office and information about you after the "re." Make many copies of the form. We recommend you three-hole punch the copies. Each month fill in on top the date you are signing and mailing in the form. Write in the month you are reporting about. That will usually be the month prior. Photocopy your check stubs. Attach the photocopies to the form you are mailing in to Social Security. On the bottom lines write in the date you received the check or checks and the gross income amount or amounts. Fill out a form for your own notebook records. Staple the originals of your paycheck stubs. Write down on the form the date you mailed in the form. Write "put in mailbox on December 6, 1995." Bring your records with you whenever you go to Social Security. The Form Addressed to the Title II Unit: Fill in the address of your Social Security office and information about you after the "re." Make many copies of the form. We recommend you three-hole punch the copies. You must report your earnings for any month in which you earn $200 or more. Fill in the date you are signing and mailing in the form. Write in the month you are reporting about (usually the month prior) and the amount of the gross income. Check the statement that applies about your income -- i.e., whether it is a one-time thing or will continue. Staple a photocopy of the pay stub or other evidence of payment to the letter you are sending to Social Security. Staple the original to your copy of the letter. Write down on your copy the date you mailed in the form. Never, never mail your original pay records unless you send them return receipt requested! Our experience is that many things sent to the Social Security office never make it into your file. [Report form for SSI Recipients] Date: ___________________________ Social Security District Office __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ Attn: Title XVI/SSI Unit Re: Name_____________________________________________________________ SSN______________________________________________________________ _ Address__________________________________________________________ __ _____________________________________________________________ Day phone_______________________ Eve/message phone_________________ I am reporting a change in earned income for the month of ________________, 199___. Attached are photocopies of checks I received the month indicated (though the date on the check may be for the earlier month). The original check stubs will be brought in for the annual review. I understand that things sent to Social Security by mail are sometimes lost. Please let me know if the change in income will mean a change in the amount of my SSI. I swear under penalty of perjury that the foregoing statements are true and correct and that the attached photocopies are true and correct copies of the originals. Executed (signed) the date listed at the top of this letter in the city listed in my address above. ______________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________ [Report form for SSDI/CDB beneficiaries] Date: ___________________________ Social Security District Office __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ Attn: Title II Unit Re: Name_____________________________________________________________ Your own SSN______________________________________________________ If your benefits are under a different number (benefits against the earnings record of a parent as Child Disability Benefits), that SSN___________________ Address__________________________________________________________ __ _____________________________________________________________ Day phone_______________________ Eve/message phone_________________ I am reporting earned income for the month of________________, 19____. The gross earned income was $_______________. Attached is information about that income. __________ This income is a one-time thing. I do not expect to continue receiving this income each month. __________ I hope to earn additional income from this source, but I do not know when or how much. I will let you know if I receive additional earned income from this source if the gross amount is $200 a month or more. __________ I expect that I will continue to receive about this amount of income each month. I swear under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed the place and date indicated above