GN 02403: Procedures for Handling Remittances and Premium Payments in the Field Office

Effective Dates: 10/23/2017 - Present

TN 20 (10-17)

A. Policy - money gifts

Gifts to the Social Security Administration (SSA) may be received in the field office (FO).

Acceptable gifts include:

The gift or bequest must be unconditional and not solicited in any way by SSA.

Process money gifts received in the FO as follows:

If…	Then…
The remitter requests that the gift be assigned to a specific trust fund;	Document the remitter’s request and enter the gift into the Debt Management System (DMS), (see MS DMS 003.006) specifying Reason Code “G” (gift), and trust fund “O”. NOTE: When a valid SSN is not available or is unknown, enter 999-99-9999 for the account ID. Give the automated receipt to the remitter. Give the remittance and the DMS generated coupon to the remittance clerk.
The remitter does not request that the gift be assigned a specific trust fund;	Enter remittance within DMS, see MS DMS 003.006, specifying Reason Code “G” (gift), and trust fund “O”. NOTE: When a valid SSN is not available or is unknown, enter 999-99-9999 for the account ID. Give the automated receipt to the remitter. Give the remittance and the DMS generated coupon to the remittance clerk.
The gift is in the form of cash;	Follow the steps outlined in GN 02403.009B. Processing Cash Remittances Received in FO.
The gift is anonymous	See MS DMS 003.006 for how to obtain an automated FO Receipt. Specify Reason Code “G” (gift), and trust fund “O”. NOTE: When a valid SSN is not available or is unknown, enter 999-99-9999 for the account ID.
The gift is a returned benefit check;	See GN 02403.005C.4, if the gift is received in the FO. See GN 02405.010, if the gift arrives in the mail.

The remittance clerk takes the following actions:

At the end of day, obtain the Field Office Remittance Transmittal (FORT) and associated remittance(s) with it.

REFERENCE: See MS DMS 004.006 and MS DMS 004.008 for how to obtain FORT.
Complete the first SIGNATURE, TITLE, NAME, and PHONE lines on the FORT.
Hand carry FORT with related payment coupons and refund payments to the remittance supervisor at the end of the day.

The remittance supervisor takes the following actions:

Review each line item on the FORT to ensure that remittance information is correct and matches the credit amount block on the FORT.
Review any mailroom or reception area logs completed that day to ensure that any refunds annotated on the logs are included on a FORT.

REFERENCE: See GN 02403.004 for details concerning mailroom and reception area logs.
Record any discrepancies and resolve them with the remittance clerk/Interviewer.
Complete the second SIGNATURE, TITLE, NAME, and PHONE lines on the FORT.
Place the correspondence pertaining to the gift, the FORT, any payment coupons and the refund in an envelope. Seal the envelope and mail it the same day to the Mid-Atlantic Program Servicing Center (MATPSC). If the day’s FORT and remittances cannot be mailed the same day that the FORT is produced, they should be secured and mailed the next business day.

REASON: MATPSC will deposit the remittances and the gift, and forward all correspondence pertaining to the gift to the Office of Financial Policy and Operations, Office of Finance, which maintains the data for the Commissioner's office.
Acknowledge the gift, per GN 02413.003.

NOTE: Direct any questions about gifts from an employee or a member of the public to the Office of Finance by calling 410-966–0113.