AET Addendum - 0369

Addendum to the Supporting Statement for Forms SSA-L9778, SSA-L9779, SSA‑L9781, SSA-L9784, SSA-L9785 and SSA-L9790

Annual Earnings Test Direct Mail Follow-up Program Notices

20 CFR 404.452-.455

OMB No. 0960-0369

Please Note:

SSA must obtain current earnings information annually to ensure proper payment. To obtain current information, SSA sends beneficiaries these letters. The only changes to these letters from year to year are the date of the current year and the amount of earnings that the beneficiary has estimated. Therefore, the examples of these letters included in this clearance package indicate where these changes to the letters will occur for this year.

Revisions to the ICR:

A new form, SSA-L9790, was added to the Midyear Mailer Operation to verify nonwork months’ information after the year is closed. The SSA-L9790 is very similar to the current midyear mailer forms that are already approved by OMB.

The yearly amounts on the master earnings file (MEF) are used to adjust annual earnings test withholding of benefits. Since the MEF contains only yearly amounts, some assumptions are made in applying the monthly part of the annual earnings test. To ensure that benefits are adjusted accurately when the monthly earnings test is applicable, a new form (SSA-L9790) was developed to request updated monthly earnings information from the beneficiaries.