Social Security No-Match Letters Halted

After a long hiatus, effective April 2011, the Social Security Administration (SSA) resumed its practice of sending out employer decentralized correspondence (DECOR) letters, otherwise known as “no-match” letters for tax year 2010. However, on October 27, 2011, SSA advised that, beginning August 29, 2011, owing to budgetary constraints, it had suspended sending these infamous no-match letters, the purpose of which is to advise employers that their workers are using a social security number that does not coincide with SSA’s records. SSA has not articulated if, or when, it will resume sending employer DECOR letters, or whether any will be sent commencing in April 2012. With regard to those DECOR letters already received by employers, SSA will not take any follow-up action and employers should follow the letters’ instructions. If an issue exists with regard to an employee’s name, the employer should double check its own records and, if that provides no resolution, the employee should attempt to correct the problem with SSA.