EFile W2 Forms – BSO Changes for Tax Year 2022

The IRS Form W2 deadline is just around the corner. It’s important for employers to know what information is required before they begin preparing to efile W2 forms

BSO Changes

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has recently made some big changes to the Business Services Online (BSO) portal. The BSO portal allows organizations, businesses, individuals, employers, and others to exchange information with the SSA securely. 

BSO Activation Code via USPS

The registration process for BSO changed in September 2022. After registering for a BSO account, the SSA will send an activation code via USPS mail, which may take up to two weeks. Registrants will not be able to report wages or use BSO services until the activation code has been entered and the registration process is completed. 

New Process for Submitting Data – EWRWS

The SSA also announced that they are no longer allowing Screen Scraping and Scripting to upload files or to efile W2 forms. If you had previously used these programming techniques to efile W2 forms, then you will no longer be able to do so. 

Instead, the SSA has released their Electronic Wage Reporting Web Service (EWRWS). It is an API that developers for payroll and tax reporting software can use to electronically file wage reports in the SSA designated format. This means that without a software development background, it will be difficult to try and implement this whole application. 

An Easier Way

Due to the complicated nature of signing up for a BSO account and setting up EWRWS, we recommend that filers use an authorized IRS/SSA W2 software provider for submitting wage reports. This will ensure that your filing is submitted correctly and before the deadlines

Remember, there is a penalty of up to $290 per form for filing late. If you’re stuck waiting on an activation code via USPS and the filing deadline passes, your filing will still be considered late. Get a headstart on your filing by using an authorized transmitter.

Conclusion

The SSA has made some pretty significant changes to BSO that can make submitting your wage reports more difficult. With the W2 deadlines coming up quickly, we recommend that you use an authorized transmitter to efile W2 forms. This takes away the guesswork and helps you get your reporting done quickly, easily, and with less of a headache.

BoomTax, The Boom Post, and its affiliates do not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors prior to engaging in any transaction.

About Author

   Help