TN 1 (07-04)

Prior to December 2000, SSA received all Schedules SSA and Forms 5500 on paper. SSA continues to receive paper reports. However, effective with the 1999 plan year reports, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) instituted electronic processing of Schedules SSA and Form 5500. Since December 2000, in addition to receiving paper reports, SSA has been receiving the electronic reports both for employees and employers/pension administrators. SSA receives the data in an electronic format from DOL’s contractor, the National Computing Services (NCS). This process is called the Electronic Filing Acceptance System (EFAST). In 2000 when IRS and DOL instituted EFAST, SSA’s system was not prepared to process the reports electronically. Starting in June 2004, SSA is processing EFAST reports. SSA is also processing the EFAST reports filed since 2000 that became backlogged.