Bad social security benefit forms sent to millions

WASHINGTON -- Due to a programming error, an incorrect Social Security income amount was shown on SSA-1099 forms sent to about 2.7 million beneficiaries, according the Social Security Administration's Web site.

Every January, the agency mails SSA-1099 statements to about 53 million beneficiaries who received a payment from the agency during the previous calendar year.

The programming error caused Medicare Part C and/or Part D premium deduction amounts (and some garnishment deduction amounts) for 2006 to be included in the amounts reported for 2007. As a result, the "Benefits for 2007" fields (Box 3 and Box 5 of SSA-1099) and the "Description of Amount in Box 3" field contain inaccurate amounts.

Revised SSA-1099s are being created and will be mailed by Jan. 25, according to the agency.

The revised SSA-1099 mailer states, in red typeface, this is a "Corrected Notice" and the revised SSA-1099 should be used in place of the previous notice. The SSA-1099 itself is marked "Corrected Tax Information," also in red typeface.

SSA field offices have been notified of the SSA-1099 problem, according to the agency. In the event that affected beneficiaries call or visit their local offices, SSA employees will also have access to a secure Web site that can be used to identify those individuals who will receive a revised SSA-1099.

SSA will also send IRS an SSA-1099 replacement file, so that IRS databases will contain the same taxpayer information as the revised SSA-1099 statements, the agency said.