LIFE WIHOUT A SS#
Working and living without a SS#
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Probably no topic or issue can stand alone without consideration for information from other topics and issues. Therefore, for better understanding of terms and concepts used herein, other papers should be read in conjunction with this paper and others. |
SS# = social security number
IRC = internal revenue code (26 USC)
TIN = taxpayer identification number
IRS = internal revenue service
The following code references apply to those who refuse to use a SS# and to those who do not have a SS#.
There are at least four sections of the Internal Revenue Code (26 USC) which apply to not giving a SS# and which are related herein, to wit:
26 USC 6109(a)(3) requirement to get #There are at least seven sections of the Code of Federal Regulations (26 CFR) which apply to not giving a SS# and which are related herein, to wit:
26 USC 6721(a)(2)(B) penalty for not getting #
26 USC 6721(c)(1)(B) waiver of penalty for de minimus
26 USC 6724(a) waiver of penalty for reasonable cause
26 CFR 301.6723-1(a)(1) penalty for not getting #There is at least one more code to consider, to wit:
26 CFR 301.6676-1(a) penalty for not getting #
26 CFR 301.6724-1(a)(2) waiver of penalty for reasonable cause
26 CFR 301.6723-1(a)(3) exception for inconsequential error
26 CFR 6721(c)(1) waiver of penalty for de minimus
26 CFR 301.6676-1(c) exception to penalty for reasonable cause
26 CFR 301.6109-1(c) affidavit
05 USC 552(a) privacy act, no one shall be deprived a right, benefit or privilege, for not providing a #.Use of terms like employee and employer are defined in the tax code and their use here is not necessarily the same. An employer is an entity in the position of hiring the services of anther. An employee is an entity in the position of selling his services to another. Here, they refer to general relationships of the entities referenced.
Public Law 101-239 on December 19, 1990 “The Omnibus Budget Restoration Act” begot much of these.
The IRC indicates that an employer (an entity in the position of hiring the services of anther) is to REQUEST the employee (an entity in the position of selling his services to another) to provide to the employer a SS# or TIN. The IRS regulation interpreting 26 USC 6109 provides:
26 USC 6109(a)(3)Clearly, the IRS code places a duty on an employer, who has volunteered to be governed by the code. He is to request a taxpayer identifying number from the employee. If a document must be filed and the employer has been unable to obtain the number but has made the request then the employer need only include an affidavit stating that the request was made.
Furnishing number of another person
Any person required under the authority of this title to make a return, statement, or other document with respect to another person shall request from such other person, and shall include in any such return, statement, or other document, such identifying number as may be prescribed for securing proper identification of such other person.26 CFR 301.6109-1(c)
Requirement to furnish another's number.
“If the person making the return, statement, or other document does not know the taxpayer identifying number of the other person, and such other person is one that is described in paragraph (b)(2)(i), (ii), (iii), or (vi) of this section, such person must request the other person's number. The request should state that the identifying number is required to be furnished under authority of law. When the person making the return, statement, or other document does not know the number of the other person, and has complied with the request provision of this paragraph (c), such person must sign an affidavit on the transmittal document forwarding such returns, statements, or other documents to the Internal Revenue Service, so stating.”
If an employee refuses to provide, or does not have, a number and the employer does not include that information, (the employee refused or did not have a number), in his return then a penalty normally is imposed
[26 USC 6721(a)(2)(b)]Such penalties are waived under the exception of “de minimis failures”.
(a) Imposition of penalty
(2) Failures subject to penalty
For purposes of paragraph (1), the failures described in this paragraph are –
(B) any failure to include all of the information required to be shown on the return or the inclusion of incorrect information.
26 CFR 6721(c)(1)The code prescribes a waiver of penalty for de minimis failure.
Exception for inconsequential errors or omissions—
In general. An inconsequential error or omission is not considered a failure to include correct information. For purposes of this paragraph (c)(1), the term ``inconsequential error or omission'' means any failure that does not prevent or hinder the Internal Revenue Service from processing the return, from correlating the information required to be shown on the return with the information shown on the payee's tax return, or from otherwise putting the return to its intended use.
26 USC 6724(a)De minimis means ”the law does not care for, or take notice of, very small or trifling matters. The law does not concern itself about trifles”. The code was modified in 19xx which altered the phrase de minimis failure to inconsequential error. The meaning is the same.
Waiver; definitions and special rules
(a) Reasonable cause waiver
No penalty shall be imposed under this part with respect to any failure if it is shown that such failure is due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect.26 CFR 301.6724-1
Reasonable cause.
(a) Waiver of the penalty—
(1) General rule. The penalty for a failure relating to an information reporting requirement (as defined in paragraph (j) of this section) is waived if the failure is due to reasonable cause and is not due to willful neglect.
(2) Reasonable cause defined. The penalty is waived for reasonable cause only if the filer establishes that either--
(i) There are significant mitigating factors with respect to the failure, as described in paragraph (b) of this section; or
(ii) The failure arose from events beyond the filer's control (``impediment''), as described in paragraph (c) of this section.(c) Events beyond the filer's control—
(1) In general. In order to establish reasonable cause under this paragraph (c)(1), the filer must satisfy paragraph (d) of this section and must show that the failure was due to events beyond the filer's control. Events which are generally considered beyond the filer's control include but are not limited to--
(i) The unavailability of the relevant business records (as described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section),
(ii) An undue economic hardship relating to filing on magnetic media (as described in paragraph (c)(3) of this section),
(iii) Certain actions of the Internal Revenue Service (as described in paragraph (c)(4) of this section),
(iv) Certain actions of an agent (as described in paragraph (c)(5) of this section), and
(v) Certain actions of the payee or any other person providing necessary information with respect to the return or payee statement (as described in paragraph (c)(6) of this section).
(6) Actions of the payee or any other person. In order to establish reasonable cause under paragraph (c)(1) of this section due to actions of the payee or any other person, such as a broker as defined in section 6045(c), providing information with respect to the return or payee statement, the filer must show either—
(i) That the failure resulted from the failure of the payee, or any other person required to provide information necessary for the filer to comply with the information reporting requirements (``any other person''), to provide information to the filer, or
(ii) That the failure resulted from incorrect information provided by the payee (or any other person) upon which information the filer relied in good faith. To substantiate reasonable cause under this paragraph (c)(6), the filer must provide documentary evidence upon request of the Internal Revenue Service showing that the failure was attributable to the payee (or any other person). See paragraph (d)(2) of this section for special rules relating to the availability of a waiver where the filer's failure relates to a taxpayer identification number (TIN), and the failure is attributable to actions of the payee described in paragraph (c)(6) (i) or (ii) of this section.
By its own code, the IRS will impose NO PENALTY on a company if the failure to show a SSN or TIN for an employee (an entity in the position like that of employee) was due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect, and the penalty is not normally even assessed for de minimis failures. The IRS would not normally go to the trouble of imposing a penalty of 50.00 on a company which omitted one or a few SSN’s. Such would clearly be a de minimis failure which would fall under Section 6721(c)
Pursuant to 6724 we are told that no penalty shall be imposed if it is shown that such failure is to to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect. When a SS# is requested but not obtained, the failure to include the number is due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect.
Reasonable cause is also explained in 26 CFR 301.6676-1:
26 CFR 301.6676-1The only question is – what is the satisfaction of the district director? For that we refer back to Section 6109 where the code says
Penalty for failure to supply identifying number.
(a)In general. Except as person who is required by the regulations under section 6109.
(1) To include his identifying number in any return, statement, or other document.
(a) Reasonable cause. If any person who is required by the regulations under section 6109 to supply an identifying number fails to comply with such requirement at the time prescribed by such regulations, but establishes to the satisfaction of the district director or the director of the regional service center that such failure was due to reasonable cause, the penalty set forth in paragraph (a) of this section shall not apply.
When the person making the return, statement, or other document does not know the number of the other person, and has complied with the request provision of this paragraph (c), such person must sign an affidavit on the transmittal document forwarding such returns, statements, or other documents to the Internal Revenue Service, so stating.” [26 CFR 301.6109-1(c)]
All the employer needs do is sign an affidavit which says he asked and the number was not available to him. The code directs the employer to simply ask for the SS#, and if it is refused, or not forthcoming, to simply notify the IRS (in the employers records) by affidavit, that he had requested the number. The IRC provides for a waiver of any penalty upon a mere asking for the number and having it refused, or not available.
The IRS is not exempt from the law, in that the provisions of the IRC only make it APPEAR TO REQUIRE that which IS VOLUNTARY, but as stated above, other provisions of the IRC explain that an affidavit will resolve the apparent conflict.
There is no law requiring a person to obtain a SS#.
Since there is no Law, statute or such telling saying such a Law does not exist, MANY THOUSANDS of people across this land have made written inquiries of the "social security" offices and to congress people. In these letters, certain pointed questions are posed. In any event, most often a response is obtained, whereby some truth is revealed - like .…
=== "Social Security is a voluntary system in that no one is required to get a number" (from Penny Payton - Claims Representative, Department of Health & Human Services Social Security Administration, 705 E 41st Street, POB 1710 Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57117, 01/10/86)Now this one is interesting. It is from Vincent Sanudo – Director, Office of Public Inquiries, Social Security, Baltimore, Maryland 21235 > 7/9/96. Mr. Sanudo sent a packet of topics in which topic is presented in a way that if your question is blah blah, then the answer is blah blah. Under the section headed by “Some Facts About the Use of Social Security Numbers” they answer –=== "A person with no social security number would have no taxable income" (from Penny Payton - Claims Representative, Department of Health & Human Services Social Security Administration, 705 E 41st Street, POB 1710 Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57117 > 01/10/86)
=== "An individual is not compelled to have a social security number" (from S. J. Houser - Assistant District Manager, Department of Health & Human Services Social Security Administration, 700 W Capitol rm 1425, Little Rock, Arkansas > 09/04/85)
=== "There is no law that requires a person to obtain a Social Security number" (from Marth A. McSteen - Acting Commissioner, The Commissioner of Social Security Baltimore, Maryland 21235 > 10/28/85)
=== “There is nothing in the United States Constitution compelling a citizen to have a Social Security number. ... A person does not have to have a Social Security number. … anyone refusing to have a number would not … have taxable income” (from Charles J Stovall – District Manager, Social Security Administration, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 > 07/02/96)
=== “The social Security Act does not require an individual to have a Social Security number (SSN) to live and work in the United States, nor does it require an SSN simply for the purpose of having one. However, if an individual works without an SSN, we cannot properly credit the earnings for the work performed.”It concludes with –
“We do not have the authority to require an employer to provide or deny employment or services to anyone who refuses to disclose his or her number. This is a matter between the individual and the employer.”A chancery court judge in Arkansas, Joyce Warren, in 1994, called such things as “trappings of society”.=== “While there is no law that mandates obtaining a social security number, it is important as a tool to keep record of your earnings. … If a business or other enterprise asks you for your social security number, you can refuse to give it to them.” (from Blanche Lambert Lincoln – Senator from Arkansas, > 06/11/2002
AGAIN - There exists no law or statute whereby an
individual is compelled or required to have a social security number.
>>>> this is not legal advice. if you want legal advice, get an attorney or accountant (for all the good it will do you)<<<<
January 2002
revised January 2004
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