Reporting Changes is Your Responsibility
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: November 6, 2023
If you receive benefits from Social Security, you have a legal obligation to report changes, which could affect your eligibility for disability, retirement, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. You must report any changes that may affect your benefits immediately, and no later than 10 days after the end of the month in which the change occurred.
Changes you need to report range from a change of address to traveling outside the United States for 30 consecutive days. To get a list of reporting responsibilities under disability, please read our publication, What You Need to Know When You get Social Security Disability Benefits, and for SSI, read What You Need to Know When You Get Supplemental Security Income. If you’re receiving retirement benefits, What You Need to Know When You Get Retirement or Survivors Benefits is also helpful.
Life changes can affect your benefits. You may be due additional payments, or you may be overpaid and have to pay us back because you didn’t report the overpayment in a timely manner. The SSI program may apply a penalty that will reduce your benefits if you fail to report a change, or if you reported the change later than 10 days after the end of the month in which the change occurred. If you fail to report changes in a timely way, or if you intentionally make a false statement, we may stop your SSI, disability, and retirement benefits. We may also impose a sanction against your payments. The first sanction is a loss of payments for six months. Subsequent sanctions are for 12 and 24 months.
You can report your change online, or by calling toll free at 1-800-772-1213. If you’re deaf or hearing-impaired call TTY 1-800-325-0778. Mail the information to your local Social Security office or in person if you prefer. If you receive SSI, you should ask about our options to use the automated toll-free SSI Telephone Wage Reporting Service or the free SSA Mobile Wage Reporting app.
If you receive benefits and need to change your address or direct deposit, you can conveniently do so by creating a personal my Social Security account.
Get the right check, in the right amount, at the right time, by reporting changes right away!
Did you find this Information helpful?
Tags: retirement benefits, SSI, supplemental security income, survivors benefits
See CommentsAbout the Author
Doug Walker, Deputy Commissioner, Communications
Deputy Commissioner, Office of Communications
Comments
Comments are closed.
laura h.
im past frustration i have been trying to correct my living arrangements since june when case worker took my information while i was driving. i knew she didt get it right and called her soon as i got home. i pay rent and pay for my own food she got it wrong and they have been taking 261 dollars ever since, I have called her 27 times never a return call. i never knew the direct number to my local office where she works just a number where u need an extension which was useless since she refused to return any of my phone calls. Then i called main office number twice and twice those i spoke said they will pass the information on to my local office. Again nothing ever happened. Finally i found direct number to my thousand oaks office i have called then 4 times and again nothing. i have requested. one call i didnt speak directly to my case worker but she told the person i was speaking she told him to tell me to make corrections on the paper work i was originally sent with the amount i was to receive. I did that again nothing happened that was 3 months ago. i didnt certify it but never had problems sending in my other documents. just recently i called the office and twice i was told to send reclamation form. i said again that will be useless too. your information said to call write etc. ive done all that i was told to request another ssi interview falls on deaf ears. i have have read and done everything i can since June to corect this. I asked to make an appointment last week to visit office. I was rudely told this isnt an emergency. Even my original acceptance with amount i was to recieve says call us we will be happy to correct information. ive asked to speak to a supervisor nothing. My local office has hung up on several times because i became fed up begging then to fix this. I have been told so many different things i need to do i do them nothing, its as simple as calling make an appointment. One would think i dont know what else to do except go to advocate on channel 4 and have him help me. 9 payments of missing 261 dollars because of wrong information case worker has me living rent free and meals are paid. completely wrong and i knew she got it wrong. First of all i was on a busy street with no where to pull over so i was busy trying to find a safe place. Second of all i never knew this was my interview i got no notice i asked if i could call when i got home no she this will only take a minute. I knew nothing about this interview and being on a very busy street didnt help matters so i called to reiterate my information 20 minutes later when i got home before she needed to submit wrong information, She had made some comment to me before she hung up that made me beleive she didnt take in the right information so i called right away. that is 2400 dollars ive been docked. i also have another issue before my payments were issued on a debit card i recieved paper checks i had gotten 3 at once. I had owed 2 months rent waiting for approval so i gave all 3 to my landlord who is the owner of the where i live, He held onto them then few months back he said go cash them. So i went to b of a . June July August payments one of them was money back owed. the teller said i cant cash july payment its been cashed already. She gave me treasurer number i called them next day they said no check is fine. I tried cashing at cash checking place but check was now over 6 months old. I called my local office again explained what was going on this is now going on another 3 months. I have called 4 times to see what is taking so long i was told to send my check in i said im sorry when you deposit my money on my card i will mail you the uncashed check this is the only proof i have to show you it was never cashed its in my possession. Local office call the treasury dept and obviously got same info that it had nt been cashed and i would recieve shortly again 3 months have passed. i call 2 weeks ago to ask what was going on. I was told they would call me back they needed to speak with the person handling this and i was told to call back this week. I called yesterday. The rudist human being. and thats another thing except one nice person last week everyone i have spoken has been short extremely rude. I told the gentleman how nice it was to talk to someone willing to help and how rude other have beeb he laughed he knew. So yesterday i called it was right before closing i didnt know the office closed at 4.00 This person who refused to give me his name or let me speak to a supervisor. He kept saying over and over at least 20 times to me that he is looking on the treasury website and that my check was cashed and the signatures match. I quite politely at first told him how is that humanely possible when im in possesion of this check in my hand. He goes it has bank endorsement. I said listen to me if that check was cashed by the bank it would of been sent back to the treasury. That is not possible i have the check in my hand, I said you were not the one helping me treasury said it wasnt cashed obviously the helping me wouldnt be helping me get it replaced if it had been cashed. He kept repeating him self accusing me of lying saying he was looking at it signatures match its not possible he would stop finally i lost it and he hung up on me he wouldnt listen. He is the same person i have talked to with other issue and he does nothing he is so out of order and rude. So im going to try and call again tommorrow. This is out of line for both issues. I have done everything i can read for hours just call write make an appt. tried. the fact this case worker first of all never knew of this appt she omitted things to me. Remeber this is my first time dealing with SSI realizing this is an absolute nightmare. 20 different people telling you whatever they feel like thats why i did my home work and getting nowhere. 4 grand is owed me since june. when this all started its bad enough dealing with ssi 30 years of work and paying in saying i wasnt eligible due to how they compute it even that i did my homework i can prove i was disabled when i was in emergency hospital when it all startedand hasnt stopped since. i did my timeline and that 5 year end of insurable i was in that hospital right under the 5 year wire i dont even dare to go down that road yet i need to fix what im owed, going on 7 months. And how extremely rude of this case worker doing this while im on a busy highway with no where to pull over. and to not correct it soon as i called and havnt spoken to her since 27 calls. sorry this is so long again my next step is to go to consumer advocate on channel 4 and ask him to help me ive tried for 7 months and im a pretty savvly person taking care of issues. Ive gotten nowhere not by lack of trying i dont know what else to do. Its very disparaging to talk to rude very kurt people everyone telling you something different when i can read and what i was supposed to do ive done above and beyond. thank you any suggestions
Jackie
What is the max monthly amount you can make while receiving ssi? I am looking into possibly working part time.
S.D.
Hi, Jackie. Thanks for reading our blog and for your question. We have special rules that make it possible for people receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability (SSDI) to work and still receive monthly payments. For details about these work incentives, read our Working While Disabled: How We Can Help pamphlet. Beginning on page 14, you’ll see examples of how your earnings affect your SSI payments. When your other income goes up, your SSI payments usually go down.
If you receive SSI, you must tell us right away when you start working, and you must report your earnings each month. This will help us avoid overpayments and underpayments. For instructions on the various ways to report your work, read our Reporting Wages When You Receive Supplemental Security Income fact sheet. If you need to contact your local Social Security office, you’ll find the phone number using our Office Locator.
We hope this information helps.
Steven F.
Last Oct my wife and I moved. During November we both reported our new address using the SS telephone system. On Jan 29th we both received form SSA-1099 addressed to our old address and forwarded by the Post Office to the new address. How do we make sure that your system successfully updated our new address? Is there anyone we can contact?
V.V.
Hi Steven, thanks for using our blog. The best way to check and maintain your benefits is in your personal my Social Security account. If you do not already have an account, you can create one. Once you are logged in to your account, select the “Benefit and Payment Details” tab. You can view your current mailing address. If you are unable to create a my Social Security account, you can call your local Social Security office. Please look for the general inquiry telephone number at the Social Security Office Locator. The number may appear under Show Additional Office Information. Please be aware that our call wait times are longer than normal. We hope this information helps.
Tony J.
I am no longer working full-time and want to stop future federal income tax withholding from my benefits. Do I mail form W-4V to my local Social Security office?
V.V.
Hi Tony, thanks for using our blog. To stop your withholding, you’ll need to complete another Form W-4V from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). You can download the form or call the IRS toll-free at 1-800-829-3676 and ask for Form W-4V. Sign the form and return it to your local Social Security office. Use our Social Security Office Locator to obtain your local office mailing address. We hope this helps!
Mrs. S.
I was working part time while collecting disability. Now I stopped working due to covid19 and am getting Unemployment. PUA is also giving the extra $300 per week on top of regular unemployment benefits. I’m afraid this may put me over income limits.
1.) Does pandemic unemployment count as “earned income” towards the needs based disability?
2.) And if so what happens if I was paid too much in unemployment and it put me over?
V.V.
Hi Mrs. Smith, thank you for your question. Unemployment benefits do not affect or reduce Social Security retirement and disability benefits. State unemployment compensation payments are not wages because they are paid due to unemployment rather than employment. However, income from Social Security may reduce your unemployment compensation. Contact your state unemployment office for information on how your state applies the reduction.
If you’re receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), unemployment insurance benefits are considered unearned income. If you, your spouse, or a child living in your household have any income other than your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payment, including unemployment insurance benefits, you must tell us.
To learn more about SSI and how income affects your payment, read What You Need to Know When You Get Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Alberto A.
Two questions:
1. If my wife and I decide to live abroad, will we be able to receive our SS in a foreign bank account or should we keep our US bank account?
2. When I file taxes, I will declare that in 2019 I made extra money over the limit. Since I am not 65 yet, What happens when I go over the limit?
Thank you!
Al
V.V.
Hi Alberto, thanks for using our blog. Our publication, “Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States”, explains how being outside the United States may affect your Social Security payments.
If you are a U.S. citizen, you may continue to receive payments outside the United States as long as you are eligible for payment and you are in a country where we can send payments. If you aren’t a U.S. citizen, you must meet one of the conditions for payment described in this publication.
You may use our Payments Abroad Screening Tool to see if your benefits will continue indefinitely, stop after six consecutive months or if certain country specific restrictions apply.
You can get Social Security retirement or survivors benefits and work at the same time. However, there is a limit to how much you can earn and still receive full benefits. The amount you’re allowed to earn while receiving benefits depends on your age. If you attain full retirement age in 2021, the earnings limit is $50,520 but we only count earnings before the month you reach full retirement age. Beginning with the month you reach full retirement age, earnings no longer reduce your benefits, no matter how much you earn. If you’re under full retirement age for the entire year, then we deduct $1 from benefit payments for every $2 earned above the annual limit. For 2021, that limit is $18,960.
Visit our Receiving Benefits While Working web page for more details.
You can call your local Social Security office to report your 2020 earnings. Please look for the general inquiry telephone number at the Social Security Office Locator. The number may appear under Show Additional Office Information. Please be aware that our call wait times are longer than normal. We hope this information helps.
Zander H.
I just started paying rent, how do I report that information?
V.V.
Hi Zander, thank you for using our blog to ask your question. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a needs based program so a change in your income, assets and living arrangement can affect your benefits and it must be reported. You can call your local Social Security office. Look for the general inquiry telephone number at the Social Security Office Locator. The number may appear under Show Additional Office Information. Please be aware that our call wait times are longer than normal. We hope this information helps.
Luddie D.
Is there a fax number for Kansas City benefits office
V.V.
Thanks for using our blog, Luddie. Use our Social Security Office Locator to obtain your local office mailing address, telephone and fax number. We hope this helps!
Dwight H.
How do i stop payments because my uncle just died.
S.D.
We are sorry for your loss, Dwight. Typically, the funeral director notifies us of an individual’s passing by contacting the local Social Security office. To verify this information was reported, you can call us at 1-800-772-1213 or your local Social Security office. Please look for the general inquiry telephone number at the Social Security Office Locator. The number may appear under Show Additional Office Information.
Check out our fact sheet on How Social Security Can Help When a Family Member Dies. We hope this helps.