SSA - POMS: GN 03913.050 - Form SSA-1694 and Registration of Business Entities

A. Registration Process

Entities must register with us to be eligible to receive direct payment of any fees we authorize for representational services performed by representatives who affiliate with them through the individual registration process. Registration also allows us to report income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) using the IRS Forms 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC.

NOTE: Registration is optional if an entity does not wish to receive direct payment:

•

Of any fees we authorize for representational services performed by representatives; or
•

tax documents from us.

B. Entity registration

To register, entities must submit a completed Form SSA-1694, Entity Registration and Taxpayer Information. Form SSA-1694 is a paper form. A fillable PDF version of the form is available here. This form must be completed and signed by the entity’s Point of Contact (POC), who is responsible for communicating with us about the entity’s fee-related matters.

For more information on who can be named as the POC and for POC responsibilities, see GN 03920.021.

NOTES:

•

When registering or updating information for more than one entity, the POC must submit each form separately to ensure that we capture each submission correctly.
•

In order for us to accept and process a representative’s request to assign direct payment of their fees to an entity, the entity must be registered at the time we process the assignment. For more information on processing assignment requests, see GN 03920.021.
•

Before an entity can register, the person designated as the entity’s POC must be registered using the Form SSA-1699.

For more information on POC registration, see GN 03913.005.

For more information on proper completion of Form SSA-1694, follow the instructions in this section.

1. Completing and submitting Form SSA-1694

The entity must provide all the information requested on Form SSA-1694.

Entity POCs should submit the Form SSA-1694 to the Office of Central Operations, Office of Earnings and International Operations, Division of Earnings and Business Services (DEBS) by faxing the completed form to 1-833-597-1429 and allow 2-3 weeks for processing. The Form SSA-1694 may also be submitted to a local Social Security Field Office in person or by mail; however, this may delay processing of the form.

2. Processing of the Form SSA-1694

To process a faxed Form SSA-1694, DEBS staff will review the form for completeness. If the form is complete, the staff will access the Registration, Appointment, and Services for Representatives (RASR) application and process the form by keying-in all the information. Upon successful processing, RASR will generate a notice to the entity’s POC.

a. If the form is incomplete or illegible

If the form is incomplete or illegible, the technician will attempt to contact the named POC via telephone and request the missing information or an amended SSA-1694, as appropriate.

DEBS staff should follow internal policy for making phone calls and documenting changes and updates.

b. The form did not include a POC name, or the attempted contact is unsuccessful

If the form did not include a POC name, or the attempted contact is unsuccessful, the technician will prepare a manual Notice of Failed Registration to the address shown on the form.

c. If the form is received in the FO

If the form is received in the FO, the FO technician should fax the SSA-1694 to DEBS at 1-833-597-1429. Once faxed to DEBS, the FO technician will dispose of the submitted form according to agency guidelines.

3. Updating entity information

Updates to a registered entity’s information must be made by the entity’s designated POC, who must complete, sign, and submit a Form SSA-1694. The POC must file a new SSA-1694 to update the name and other information (e.g., address, phone numbers, banking information) as needed.

Failure to keep all information updated or providing us with incorrect or incomplete information may result in missed payments, errors on Forms IRS 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC, and possible placement on the Ineligible for Direct Payment Entities list.

For more information regarding the role and responsibilities of the POC, see GN 03920.021.

a. Entity designates a new POC

If an entity wishes to designate a different POC, the Form SSA-1694 must be submitted and signed by the new POC, and that person must have registered prior to signing and submitting the Form SSA-1694.

NOTE: We cannot process an SSA-1694 that does not contain the POC’s Rep ID. An individual must be registered prior to being designated as an entity’s POC.

b. Entity EIN changes

When an entity changes its EIN, the entity, through its POC, must file a new Form SSA-1694 and all affiliated representatives must also file a new Form SSA-1699, see GN 03913.012.

NOTE: We do not update entity registration information based on phone calls, e-mails, or other correspondence. Entities must submit new 1694s signed by the POC to update registration information.

EXAMPLE: Benefit Maxima, LLC, an entity, is purchased by a larger company, We R Benefits, which results in two companies. Benefit Maxima, LLC retains the original EIN and We R Benefits acquires a new EIN. Representatives affiliated with Benefit Maxima who also wish to affiliate with We R Benefits must file a new Form SSA-1699 to reflect the affiliation information of We R Benefits. Any representatives with active appointments who wish to change their affiliation in those appointments must also file a new Form SSA-1696 (or section 5 of the Form SSA-1696) to reflect the new affiliation. If those representatives also wish to assign direct payment of their fees to that entity, they may do so on the same Form SSA-1696.

C. Annual reporting of income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Forms 1099-MISC (Miscellaneous) and 1099-NEC (Nonemployee Compensation)

IRS regulations require us to report when we directly pay fees of $600 or more in a calendar year. When we make aggregate payments to representatives or entities of $600 or above, we report the income to IRS using Forms IRS 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC, as appropriate.

A representative’s affiliation with an entity may affect the way we report the fees we pay to them. Representatives can work both as sole proprietors and affiliate with one or more entities over the course of a calendar year. However, representatives can work only in one capacity on a specific case. When representatives submit notices of appointment using the Form SSA-1696, they are required to indicate whether they are working as a sole proprietor or are working for an entity in each case. For more information about processing the Form SSA-1696, see GN 03910.040.

1. Sole proprietors/solo practitioners

Self-employed (i.e., sole proprietors or solo practitioners) representatives may use Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) or their own Social Security number (SSN) to report their income. Generally, these representatives are not affiliated with an entity. We report fees we pay directly to these representatives on IRS Form 1099-NEC. We report these earnings in box 1 (Non-employee compensation) as income.

NOTE: We previously reported these earnings in box 7 of the old Form IRS 1099-MISC.

2. Representatives who affiliate with an entity (e.g., firm, organization)

A representative who has affiliated with a registered entity will receive a Form IRS 1099-MISC documenting the amount of fees directly paid for representational services provided before SSA, regardless of whether the fee was paid to the representative or the entity.

A representative will receive a Form IRS 1099-NEC if the representative had not affiliated with an entity or had affiliated with an unregistered entity. Because a representative’s fee arrangement may differ from case to case, a representative may receive one or both of these forms in a single calendar year.

For more information on individual registration, see GN 03913.010.

3. Representatives who affiliate with an entity and assign direct payment of their fee

Representatives can choose to rescind or change an affiliation but cannot have more than one active designated affiliation or direct payment assignment in a single case. For more information on assignment of direct payment of authorized fees, see GN 03920.021.

When an entity successfully registers with us and we authorize fees to a representative who has affiliated with that entity in one or more claims, we send a Form IRS 1099-NEC to the entity and a Form IRS 1099-MISC to the representative.

IMPORTANT: For information on corrections to the IRS 1099-MISC and the IRS 1099-NEC see GN 03913.005.

Social Security

Program Operations Manual System (POMS)

GN 03913.050 Form SSA-1694 and Registration of Business Entities