YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY
By DAVID BROWN

If you are an American business entrepreneur, you should know about the fast and secure on-line business services that are available through Social Security to lighten your paperwork burdens.

Mr. Brown is District Manager of the Social Security Administration's Downtown New York Office.

The Business Services Online (BSO) Web page at www.socialsecurity.gov/bso lets you conduct business with Social Security on-line in a secure environment. All users, in fact, must register to use the Web site and a password is required to actually conduct business.

What can users actually do at the BSO Web site? Here's a sample. File W-2 Reports Electronically

Among the most useful services is a way in which businesses can report wages on-line instead of on paper. Users of this service simply log in and select the option for creating wage reports on-line.

The instructions explain how to print the W-2s to give to employees, plus copies of the W-3 and W-2s for the business owner's records. When the actual on-line report is submitted, an electronic receipt is created, complete with the filing date and time.

Verify Social Security Numbers Online

Two Internet verification options allow employers to verify that workers' names and Social Security numbers match Social Security's records for wage-reporting purposes only. Employers can:

- Verify up to 10 names and Social Security numbers (per screen) on-line and receive immediate results. This option is ideal for verifying new hires; or - Upload as many as 250,000 names and Social Security numbers in overnight files and usually receive the results on the next government business day. This option is ideal if you want to verify an entire payroll database or if you hire a large number of workers at a time.

It is important as an employer to make sure your employees' wages are being reported under the correct Social Security Numbers - and these services make the verification process simple.

This year join the thousands of business owners and entrepreneurs who already save themselves valuable time and effort by doing business with Social Security on-line. Visit our Web site at www.socialsecurity.gov/bso to get started.