Section 207 of the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-169) amended Title XI of the Social Security Act by adding section 1129A to provide for the imposition of administrative sanctions to help prevent and respond to fraud and abuse in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) programs and operations.

Section 201 of the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-203) broadened the range of actions that cause a sanction to include failure to report an event that is material to eligibility or benefit amount if the person knows or should know that failure to report is misleading.

IMPORTANT: Effective February 2021, Section 824 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, provides that individuals who authorize Social Security to obtain records from a payroll data provider shall not be subject to an administrative sanction for any omission or error with respect to their wages as reported by the payroll data provider.

An administrative sanction is a penalty, which allows us to withhold a person’s current or future Title II benefits and Title XVI payments. A sanction is in addition to any other penalty that may result from false or misleading statements or late or incomplete reporting.