The Social Security Administration recently announced that it would once again be sending “No Match” letters to employers. “No Match” letters are intended to advise employers that there is some discrepancy in the SSA records between the name of an employee and the Social Security number listed for that employee as of the time that the employer submitted payroll taxes.

For years, the SSA routinely sent out “No Match” letters to employers. However, for tax years 2007 through 2009, the agency suspended sending out the letters because of litigation surrounding a proposed Department of Homeland Security regulation (later withdrawn) that would have provided a “safe harbor” for employers if they followed certain procedures in responding to “No Match” letters.

The current version of the “No Match” letter lists a single employee. In years past, the letters provided the employer with a list of employees who had match problems.

There has long been confusion about how the government expects employers to respond to “No Match” letters.