POMS Reference

RM: Records Maintenance

TN 28 (12-92)

A. Definition

1. Special Wage Reports

Special wage reports cases usually involving railroad employment  or back pay ordered by a court, which may require special instructions for processing.

2. Railroad Employment Cases

Railroad employment cases usually involve situations where employees for our employer have been ruled to be under railroad employment or vice versa during the year and FICA earnings require partial allocation or adjustment.

3. Back Pay Cases

Back pay cases involve a court award of earnings for prior years of work.

B. Policy — back pay

IRS considers back pay under a statute as wages for the year the backpay is awarded (1992). While SSA considers such back pay as wages paid in the periods in which they should have been paid (June 1987 through November 1989). To meet the needs of both IRS and SSA the back pay is posted to the year in which paid and then adjusted to delete the back pay portion from the regular yearly earnings and then allocated on a monthly basis for the period involved.

C. Process

Handle each case as described below,

Stage Component Involved What happens
1. Division of Earnings and Adjustments (DEA) receives cases involving questionable railroad employment or allocated back pay. Routes cases to the Office of Pre-Claims Requirements, Division of Earnings, Correction and Certification (OPR-DECC) for review and special instructions if required.

2.

DECC

  • Reviews the case

  • Prepares special instructions, if required.

  • Routes case back to DEA with instructions on processing.

3.

DEA

  • Prepares necessary adjustments in accordance with special instructions.

  • Forwards adjustments for processing.