Prior to 1987, SSA assigned identification numbers (sometimes referred to as "69-numbers")
to identify State and local entities and interstate instrumentalities that obtained
Social Security coverage under a Section 218 Agreement. Because SSA was responsible
for processing the wage reports and accounting for the Social Security contributions
paid by State and local government employers, this number was used for reporting and
record keeping purposes through tax year 1986.
Beginning with wages paid after 1986, State and local government employers with Section
218 Agreements report Social Security and/or Medicare Qualified Government Employment
(MQGE) wages under their IRS-assigned Federal Employer Identification Numbers (EINs).
Some States, on their own, assign and use 69-numbers for administrative recordkeeping
purposes. If a State uses a 69-number and submits a Modification that extends coverage
to one or more years prior to 1987, the State should notify the SSA regional office
in a cover letter what 69-number(s) should be used for the newly covered entity. However,
the State still needs to provide the EIN number assigned by IRS in the Modification.
If retroactive coverage involves periods prior to 1987, the State needs to make the
deposit with a Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) or branch in the same manner that pre-1987
deposits were made. This is because those subsections of Section 218 of the Act that
were repealed by Public Law 99-509 are still in effect for pre-1987 years and continue
to govern deposits. If the State experiences problems with a FRB deposit, contact
the SSA Office of Income Security Programs.