To fill out Form SSA-131, the Employer Report of Special Wage Payments, hand a blank copy to your former employer’s payroll or HR department, have them enter your identifying information, your retirement date, the last date you performed services, and the dollar amount of wages paid this year for work you did earlier, then submit the signed form to the Social Security Administration field office nearest the employer or the office handling your claim. The form tells SSA that money on your W-2 was earned before you retired so it isn’t counted against the retirement earnings test.
Why the Form Exists
SSA charges wages as earnings for the period when you performed the services, not when the check arrived. A lump-sum vacation payout, a severance check, a bonus tied to a prior-year contract, commissions on policies sold before retirement, stock option gains, back pay, or deferred compensation can all show up on a W-2 for a year after you stopped working. Without the SSA-131, SSA treats every dollar on that W-2 as current earnings, which can trigger benefit withholding or an overpayment notice.1Social Security Administration. Special Payments After Retirement
A few common payments don’t qualify and should not be entered as special wages: vacation, sick, or holiday pay you actually used before retiring; amounts already reported under “Nonqualified Plans” on the W-2; 401(k) deferrals taken from your wages; nontaxable health and dental benefits; and bonuses earned and paid in the same tax year.2Social Security Administration. Employer Report of Special Wage Payments
Getting the Form and Starting the Process
Download the form from ssa.gov/forms/ssa-131.pdf, or pick one up at any local field office. It’s two pages, and SSA estimates about 20 minutes to complete.2Social Security Administration. Employer Report of Special Wage Payments You’ll typically start things off by contacting your former employer’s payroll or HR office and giving them the blank form. The employer signs and certifies the data, so most of the writing on the page is theirs, not yours.
Completing Part I: Identifying Information
The top block matches the form to your SSA record. It captures the tax year the payment was reported, your legal name, your Social Security number, and the SSA claim number (which SSA fills in). Your employer enters their business address in this section as well.3Social Security Administration. RS 02510.021 SSA-131 (Employer Report of Special Wage Payments)
Completing Items 1 Through 6
The numbered fields carry the substance of the report.
Item 1 — Employer Identification Number. The same EIN the employer used to file your W-2.
Item 2 — Retirement date. The date you retired. If you have not actually retired, the employer writes “Not Retired.”
Item 3 — Date you last performed services. The last day you worked, were no longer expected to return, and were not subject to recall. This date should be the same as or earlier than the retirement date in Item 2.
Item 4 — Special wage payments. The dollar amount of wages paid in the tax year for services performed in prior years, or paid on account of retirement. The employer also checks a box for the type of payment: Sick Pay, Severance Pay, Bonus, Deferred Compensation, Vacation Pay, or Other with an explanation.
Item 5 — Future payments. Whether payments like those in Item 4 will continue in future years. If yes, the employer lists the expected amounts and the years they will be paid.
Item 6 — Nonqualified deferred compensation and Section 457 plans. This item applies only when both payments from and deferrals into a nonqualified plan occurred during the same tax year. The employer reports the wages you actually earned that year, calculated as W-2 Box 1 compensation minus the plan distributions plus any new deferrals made during the year.2Social Security Administration. Employer Report of Special Wage Payments
Cross-Check Item 4 Against Your W-2
Before the employer signs, compare Item 4 against your W-2. Amounts shown in Box 11 (Nonqualified Plans) are reported through a different channel and should not also appear in Item 4. The SSA-131 is often needed precisely because Box 11 doesn’t give SSA enough detail to separate current earnings from prior-year compensation when lump-sum distributions and new deferrals overlap in the same year.3Social Security Administration. RS 02510.021 SSA-131 (Employer Report of Special Wage Payments)
Where to Send the Completed Form
The signed form goes to the SSA office nearest the employer’s place of business, or to the office handling your benefits claim, whichever is more convenient. Use the Field Office Locator at ssa.gov/locator to find the address. You can also hand-deliver it in person and get a receipt on the spot.
There is no electronic submission option. SSA needs an authorized company representative’s signature certifying the data, so plan on mail or an in-person visit. If the employer mails the form directly, ask for a copy for your own records.
If Your Former Employer Won’t or Can’t Complete the Form
Companies close, merge, and lose records. Contact your local SSA office and explain the situation. SSA’s online claims system lets you describe special payments in a “Remarks” field when applying for benefits, and the agency will follow up for more information.4Social Security Administration. About Special Payments
Gather whatever documentation you can assemble on your own: the W-2 for the relevant year, pay stubs showing the lump-sum disbursement, your employment contract or severance agreement spelling out the payment terms, and any correspondence from the employer confirming the payment was tied to pre-retirement work. A stronger paper trail makes it more likely SSA can exclude the payment without a completed SSA-131.
What Happens After You Submit
An SSA claims representative reviews the form and updates your Master Beneficiary Record. When SSA itself asks an employer for the form, internal procedures give the employer 30 days to respond, followed by a second request if none comes in.3Social Security Administration. RS 02510.021 SSA-131 (Employer Report of Special Wage Payments) When you submit a completed form yourself, expect roughly 30 days or longer depending on the field office’s workload.
Once the review is complete and SSA agrees the payment qualifies, the agency recalculates your earnings for that tax year. The result is either the release of benefits that were being withheld or the prevention of a future benefit suspension. You can check whether the correction has posted by logging into your my Social Security account at ssa.gov.
The Three-Year Deadline for Fixing Your Earnings Record
SSA earnings records can be corrected within three years, three months, and 15 days after the year the wages were paid.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 405 – Evidence, Procedure, and Certification for Payments For a special payment reported on a 2025 W-2, the deadline would be April 15, 2029. If the last day falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the window extends to the next business day.
After that deadline passes, corrections are only possible in narrow circumstances: fraud, clerical errors, wages credited to the wrong person, or situations where the employer files a corrected wage report with the IRS. If you are anywhere near the cutoff, file the SSA-131 now rather than waiting for a benefit notice to force the issue.
If You Already Received an Overpayment Notice
Many retirees first hear about the special-payment issue when SSA sends an overpayment notice saying they earned too much and owe money back. Two paths exist depending on the situation.
If you disagree that you were overpaid, file Form SSA-561 (Request for Reconsideration) within 60 days of receiving the notice. SSA counts you as receiving the notice five days after the date printed on it. This is the right route when the overpayment stems from SSA failing to exclude a special payment. Submit the SSA-131 alongside your reconsideration request so the claims representative has the employer’s documentation.6Social Security Administration. Appeals Process
If you agree you were overpaid but can’t afford to repay, file Form SSA-632 (Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery). You must show both that the overpayment was not your fault and that repayment would leave you unable to meet ordinary living expenses. SSA stops collecting while it reviews the waiver request.7Social Security Administration. Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery or Change in Repayment Rate
Speed matters. Miss the 60-day reconsideration window and SSA begins recovering the overpayment by deducting from your future benefit checks. Getting the SSA-131 completed and submitted before or with your appeal is the most effective way to resolve these cases, because it gives SSA the employer-certified proof needed to reverse the overpayment determination outright.