The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 has temporarily reduced the rate of social security tax withholding (for employees only) from 6.2% to 4.2%, for wage payments made in 2011. See Box 4—Social security tax withheld on page 6.

Employers in American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands can now use the SSA’s W-2 Online service to create, save, print, and submit up to 20 Forms W-2AS, W-2GU, or W-2VI at a time over the Internet. For more information, see E-filing on page 3.

Public Law 111-226 repealed the advance earned income credit payment for tax years beginning after December 31, 2010. Box 9, Advance EIC payments, has been eliminated from the 2011 Forms W-2GU and W-2VI.

Reporting the cost of employer-sponsored health coverage will not be mandatory for 2011 Forms W-2. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act added code DD to Box 12 of the 2011 Forms W-2AS, W-2GU, and W-2VI to report this information. Additional reporting guidance will be available on the Affordable Care Act Tax Provisions page of IRS.gov. For details, see Notice 2010-69, 2010-44 I.R.B.576, available at www.irs.gov/irb/2010-44_IRB/ar13.html.

To improve document matching compliance, box b of Form W-3SS has been expanded to include a new section, Kind of Employer, with five new checkboxes. All filers are required to check the applicable box. For more information, see Box b—Kind of Employer on page 9.

The penalties for failure to file correct information returns and failure to furnish correct payee statements have increased. See Penalties in the 2011 Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3.

This Act amends the 2003 Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. MSRRA applies to the 2009 tax year as well as subsequent tax years. You may be required to report wages and taxes on a form different from the form you generally use if an employee claims residence or domicile under MSRRA in a different jurisdiction in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Under MSRRA, the spouse of an active duty servicemember (civilian spouse) may keep his or her prior residence or domicile for tax purposes (tax residence) when accompanying the servicemember spouse, who is relocating under military orders, to a new military duty station in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. possession. Before relocating, both spouses must have had the same tax residence.

For example, if a civilian spouse is working in Guam but properly claims tax residence in one of the 50 states under MSRRA, his or her income from services would not be taxable income for Guam tax purposes. Federal income taxes should be withheld and remitted to the IRS. State and local income taxes may need to be withheld and remitted to state and local tax authorities. You should consult with state, local, or U.S. possession tax authorities regarding your withholding obligations under MSRRA.

The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-240) allows participants in governmental section 457 plans to treat elective deferrals as Roth contributions, beginning with taxable years after December 31, 2010. Code EE, Designated Roth contributions under a governmental section 457(b) plan, has been added to the list of codes in Box 12 of Forms W-2AS, W-2GU, and W-2VI. See Designated Roth contributions on page 4.

If you file Form 944-SS, use the "944-SS" checkbox in box b—Kind of Payer, on Form W-3SS.

If you are an employer in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, contact the Department of Revenue and Taxation, Capitol Hill, Saipan, MP 96959, to get Form W-2CM, Wage and Tax Statement, and the instructions for completing and filing the form.

If you have questions about reporting on any of the above forms, call 1-304-579-4827 (not toll free). For any other information, call 1-800-829-4059 (toll free except from American Samoa).

Even employers with only one household employee must file Form W-3SS with Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. On Form W-3SS, check "Hshld. emp." in box b—Kind of Payer.

File Copy 1 of Forms W-2AS and W-3SS with the American Samoa Tax Office, Government of American Samoa, Pago Pago, AS 96799.

File Copy 1 of Forms W-2GU and W-3SS with the Department of Revenue and Taxation, Attn: Income Tax Branch, P.O. Box 23607, GMF, GU 96921.

File Copy 1 of Forms W-2VI and W-3SS with the V.I. Bureau of Internal Revenue, 9601 Estate Thomas, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, VI 00802.

Contact the Division of Revenue and Taxation, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands at 670-664-1000 for the address to send Copy 1 of Forms W-2CM and W-3SS.

If you file forms for more than one territory, use a separate Form W-3SS for each territory. For example, send Forms W-2GU with one Form W-3SS and Forms W-2AS with a second Form W-3SS. Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, and W-2VI are printed two forms to a page. Send the whole page of Copy A and Copy 1, even if one of the forms on the page is blank or "Void." See the specific instructions for box b of Form W-3SS on page 8.

Prepare and file Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI either alphabetically by employees' last names or numerically by employees' social security numbers. Do not staple or tape Form W-3SS to the related Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. Do not staple or tape any forms to each other. These forms are machine read and staple holes or tears interfere with machine reading. Also, do not fold or cut Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. Send the forms in a flat mailing.

Furnish Copies B and C of Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI to your employees by January 31, 2012. You will meet the "furnish" requirement if the form is properly addressed and mailed on or before the due date.

If you are required to file 250 or more Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, you must file them electronically unless the IRS granted you a waiver. The SSA encourages all employers to e-file because it can save you effort and helps ensure accuracy.

The SSA’s Business Services Online (BSO) website makes e-filing easy by providing two ways to submit employee wage data to SSA.

Employers also can use BSO’s W-2c Online service to create, save, print, and submit Forms W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement, to correct a previously submitted Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, W-2VI, or W-2c. To learn more about using BSO, visit the SSA’s Employer W-2 Filing Instructions & Information website at www.socialsecurity.gov/employer. Here you also will find forms and publications needed for wage reporting, information about verifying employee social security numbers online, and more. Call the SSA at 1-888-772-2970 if you experience problems using BSO services. To speak with the SSA’s Employer Services Liaison Officer for your region, call 1-212-264-1117 (not toll free) for the USVI or 1-510-970-8247 (not toll free) for Guam, American Samoa, and the CNMI. SSA no longer accepts wage reports submitted on any type of physical media (magnetic tape, cartridge, diskette, etc.).

This website includes information on electronic filing, some IRS and SSA publications, and general topics of interest about annual wage reporting. You also can use BSO to ask questions about wage reporting.

If you file electronically, do not file the same returns on paper.

Employers use an employer identification number (EIN) (00-0000000). Employees use a social security number (SSN) (000-00-0000). When you list a number, separate the nine digits properly to show the kind of number. Do not accept an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) for employment purposes. You can identify an ITIN because it is a 9-digit number, beginning with the number "9" with either a "7" or "8" as the fourth digit, and is formatted like an SSN (for example, 9NN-7N-NNNN). For more information about EINs and SSNs, see Pub. 80 (Circular SS), Federal Tax Guide for Employers in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Social security numbers are used to record employee earnings for future social security and Medicare benefits. When you prepare Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, be sure to show the correct SSN for each employee. For information on verification of SSNs, see section 3 of Pub. 80 (Circular SS) or go to www.socialsecurity.gov/employer and select an option under "Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS)."

Use the current version of Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement, to correct errors (such as an incorrect name, SSN, or amount) on a previously filed Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. Always send Form W-3c, Transmittal of Corrected Wage and Tax Statements, with Forms W-2c to the SSA, even if you are filing a Form W-2c only to correct an employee's name or SSN. See the separate Instructions for Forms W-2c and W-3c. Also, see below for information on correcting an employee's address.

If you are making a correction to a previously filed Form 941, 943, or 944, use Form 941-X, 943-X, or 944-X, for the return period in which you found the error. See the Instructions for Form 941-X for more details. Issue the employee a Form W-2c if the error discovered was for the prior year. If you are correcting social security or Medicare wages or tips, also file the entire Copy A page of Form W-2c and Form W-3c with the SSA to correct the social security records and any other items on the original Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI (or previously filed Form W-2c) that were in error.

An employer's contribution to an employee's Archer MSA is not subject to income tax withholding, social security, or Medicare taxes if it is reasonable to believe at the time of the payment that the contribution will be excludable from the employee's income. However, if it is not reasonable to believe at the time of payment that the contribution will be excludable from the employee's income, employer contributions are subject to withholding of income, social security, and Medicare taxes and must be reported in boxes 1, 3, and 5.

You must report all employer contributions to an Archer MSA in box 12 with code R. Employer contributions to an Archer MSA that are not excludable from the income of the employee also must be reported in box 1.

An employee's contributions to an Archer MSA are includible in income as wages and are subject to income tax withholding and social security and Medicare taxes. Employee contributions may be deductible, within limits, on the employee's tax return.

For more information, see Pub. 969, Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans, and Notice 96-53, 1996-2 C.B. 219, which is found on page 5 of Internal Revenue Bulletin 1996-51 at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-irbs/irb96-51.pdf PDF.

If an employee dies during the year, you must report the accrued wages, vacation pay, and other compensation paid after the date of death. Wages that were constructively received by the employee while he or she was alive are reported on Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI as any other regular wage payment, even if you may have to reissue the payment in the name of the estate or beneficiary.

If you made the payment after the employee's death but in the same year the employee died, you must withhold social security and Medicare taxes on the payment and report the payment on the employee's Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI only as social security and Medicare wages to ensure proper social security and Medicare credit is received.

On the employee's Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, show the payment as social security wages (box 3) and Medicare wages and tips (box 5) and the social security and Medicare taxes withheld in boxes 4 and 6. Do not show the payment in box 1.

If you made the payment after the year of death, do not report it on Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, and do not withhold social security and Medicare taxes. Check with your local taxing agency for any additional reporting requirements.

Under section 402A, a participant in a section 401(k) plan or under a 403(b) salary reduction agreement that includes a qualified Roth contribution program may elect to make designated Roth contributions to the plan or program in lieu of elective deferrals. Designated Roth contributions are subject to income tax withholding and social security and Medicare taxes and must be reported in boxes 1, 3, and 5.

Section 402A requires separate reporting of the yearly designated Roth contributions. Designated Roth contributions to 401(k) plans will be reported using code AA in box 12; designated Roth contributions under 403(b) salary reduction agreements will be reported using code BB in box 12; and designated Roth contributions under a governmental section 457(b) plan will be reported using code EE in box 12. For reporting instructions, see Code AA, Code BB, and Code EE on page 8.

Employer-provided educational assistance that qualifies as a working condition benefit is excludable from an employee's wages. For educational assistance that does not qualify as a working condition benefit, a $5,250 exclusion may apply if the assistance is provided under an educational assistance program under section 127. See Pub. 970, Tax Benefits for Education, and section 2 of Pub. 15-B, Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits, for more information.

Report on Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI payments of $600 or more to election workers for services performed in territorial, county, and municipal elections. File Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI for payments of less than $600 paid to election workers if social security and Medicare taxes were withheld under a section 218 (Social Security Act) agreement. Do not report election worker payments on Form 1099-MISC.

If you paid your employee's share of social security and Medicare taxes rather than deducting them from the employee's wages, you must include these payments as wages subject to income tax withholding and social security and Medicare taxes. These payments are also subject to federal unemployment (FUTA) taxes in the USVI. The amount to include as wages is determined by using the formula contained in the discussion of Employee's Portion of Taxes Paid by Employer in section 7 of Pub. 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide.

This does not apply to household and agricultural employers. If you pay a household or agricultural employee's social security and Medicare taxes, you must include these payments in the employee's wages for income tax withholding purposes. However, the wage increase due to the tax payments is not subject to social security, Medicare, or FUTA (USVI only) taxes. For information on completing Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, W-2VI, and W-3SS in this situation, see the Instructions for Schedule H (Form 1040), Household Employment Taxes, and section 3 of Pub. 51 (Circular A), Agricultural Employer's Tax Guide.

You must include in your employee's wages (boxes 1, 3, and 5 of Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI) the cost of group-term life insurance beyond $50,000 worth of coverage, reduced by the amount the employee paid toward the insurance. The cost is determined by the table in section 2 of Pub. 15-B. Also, show the amount in box 12 with code C. For coverage provided to employees while they were employed, you must withhold social security and Medicare taxes, and you may, at your option, withhold federal income tax. For coverage provided to employees after they were employed, the employees must pay the employee part of social security and Medicare taxes on the taxable cost of group-term life insurance coverage over $50,000 on their tax return. You are not required to collect those taxes. However, you must report the uncollected social security tax with code M and the uncollected Medicare tax with code N in box 12 of Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI.

An employer's contribution (including an employee's contributions through a cafeteria plan) to an employee's HSA is not subject to income tax withholding, social security, or Medicare taxes (or FUTA tax (USVI only)) if it is reasonable to believe at the time of the payment that the contribution will be excludable from the employee's income. However, if it is not reasonable to believe at the time of payment that the contribution will be excludable from the employee's income, employer contributions are subject to income tax withholding and social security and Medicare taxes (and FUTA tax (USVI only)) and must be reported in boxes 1, 3, and 5 (and on Form 940 (USVI only)).

You must report all employer contributions (including an employee's contribution through a cafeteria plan) to an HSA in box 12 with code W. Employer contributions to an HSA that are not excludable from the income of the employee also must be reported in boxes 1, 3, and 5.

An employee's contributions to an HSA (unless made through a cafeteria plan) are includible in income as wages and are subject to income tax withholding and social security and Medicare taxes. Employee contributions may be deductible, within limits, on the employee's tax return. For more information about HSAs, see Notice 2004-2, 2004-2 I.R.B. 269, available at www.irs.gov/irb/2004-02_IRB/ar09.html. Also see Notice 2004-50, 2004-33 I.R.B. 196, available at www.irs.gov/irb/2004-33_IRB/ar08.html, and Notice 2008-59, 2008-29 I.R.B. 123, available at www.irs.gov/irb/2008-29_IRB/ar11.html. You also can find information in the Form 8889 instructions and Pub. 969, both dealing with health savings accounts.

If an employee loses a form, enter "REISSUED STATEMENT" on the new copy (unless it was furnished electronically), and furnish it to the employee. Do not send Copy A of the reissued statement to the SSA. Employers are not prohibited (by the Internal Revenue Code) from charging a fee for issuing a duplicate Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI.

Report moving expenses as follows.

Qualified and nonqualified moving expenses are defined in Pub. 521, Moving Expenses. See the information under Deductible Moving Expenses and Nondeductible Expenses.

Section 409A provides that all amounts deferred under a nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan for all tax years are currently includible in gross income unless certain requirements are met. Section 409A, generally, is effective with respect to amounts deferred in tax years beginning after December 31, 2004, but deferrals made prior to that year may be subject to section 409A under some circumstances.

It is not necessary to show amounts deferred during the year under an NQDC plan subject to section 409A. However, if you report section 409A deferrals, show the amount in box 12 using code Y. For more information, see Notice 2008-115, 2008-52 I.R.B. 1367, available at www.irs.gov/irb/2008-52_IRB/ar10.html.

Income included under section 409A from an NQDC plan will be reported in box 1, and in box 12 using code Z. This income is also subject to an additional tax that is calculated on the employee's tax return. For more information, see section 5 of Pub. 15-A. For more information on amounts includible in gross income, see Notice 2008-113, 2008-51 I.R.B. 1305, available at www.irs.gov/irb/2008-51_IRB/ar12.html, and Notice 2008-115.

If an employee repays you for wages received in error, do not offset the repayments against current year's wages unless the repayments are for amounts received in error in the current year. Repayments made in the current year, but related to a prior year or years, must be repaid in gross, not net, and require special tax treatment by employees in some cases. You may advise the employee of the total repayments made during the current year and the amount (if any) related to prior years. This information will help the employee account for such repayments on his or her federal and/or local income tax return.

If the repayment was for a prior year, you must file Form W-2c with the SSA to correct only social security and Medicare wages and taxes. Do not correct "Wages, tips, other compensation" in box 1, or "Federal income tax withheld" in box 2, on Form W-2c. File the amended return as appropriate for the return on which the wages were originally reported (Form 941-X, 943-X, or 944-X). Amend the social security and Medicare wages and taxes for the period during which the wages were originally paid. For information on reporting adjustments to Form 941-SS, Form 943, or Form 944-SS, see Pub. 80 (Circular SS).

Tell your employee that the wages paid in error in a prior year remain taxable to him or her for that year. This is because the employee received and had use of those funds during that year. The employee is not entitled to file an amended return (Form 1040X) to recover the income tax on these wages. Instead, the employee is entitled to a deduction (or a credit, in some cases) for the repaid wages on his or her Form 1040 for the year of repayment. Refer your employee to Repayments in Pub. 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income.

If you had employees who received sick pay in 2011 from an insurance company or other third-party payer and the third party notified you of the amount of sick pay involved, you may be required to report the information on the employees' Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI. If the insurance company or other third-party payer did not notify you in a timely manner about the sick pay payments, it must prepare Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, and W-3SS for your employees showing the sick pay. For specific reporting instructions, see section 6 of Pub. 15-A.

If you terminate your business, you must provide Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI to your employees for the calendar year of termination by the due date of your final Form 941-SS, 944-SS, or 943. If filing on paper, make sure you obtain Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI preprinted with the correct year. If filing electronically, make sure your software has been updated for the current tax year. You also must file Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI with the SSA by the last day of the month that follows the due date of your final Form 941-SS, 944-SS, or 943.

If any of your employees are immediately employed by a successor employer, see Rev. Proc. 2004-53 for information on who must file Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, and employment tax returns. You can find Rev. Proc. 2004-53, 2004-34 I.R.B. 320, at www.irs.gov/irb/2004-34_IRB/ar13.html PDF. For information on automatic extensions for furnishing Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI to employees and filing them with the SSA, see Rev. Proc. 96-57, which is on page 14 of Internal Revenue Bulletin 1996-53 at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-irbs/irb96-53.pdf PDF.

For specific instructions for the 2011 Form W-2CM, see the 2011 Supplemental Instructions for Forms W-2CM and OS-3710, published by the Division of Revenue and Taxation, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

These are 5-part forms. Ensure that all copies are legible. Send Copy A to the SSA, Copy 1 to your tax department, and Copies B and C to your employee. Keep Copy D, and a copy of Form W-3SS, with your records for 4 years.

Type entries on these forms using black ink and 12-point Courier font. Copy A is read by machine and must be typed clearly with no corrections made to the entries and no entries exceeding the size of the boxes. Entries completed by hand, in script or italics fonts, or in colors other than black cannot be read by the machines. Make all dollar entries without the dollar sign and comma, but with the decimal point (00000.00). Show the cents portion of the money amounts. If a box does not apply, leave it blank.

Base all entries on Forms W-2AS, W-2GU, W-2VI, or W-3SS on a calendar year. Use the current year form.

Check this box when an error is made on Forms W-2AS, W-2GU, or W-2VI and you are voiding it because you will complete a new form. Do not include any amounts shown on "Void" forms in the totals you enter on Form W-3SS. See Corrections on page 3.

Enter the number shown on the employee's social security card. If the employee does not have a card, he or she should apply for one by completing Form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card. If the employee has applied for a social security number, enter "Applied For" in box a on paper Forms W-2AS, W-2GU, or W-2VI filed with the SSA. Enter zeros (000000000) if the form is filed electronically.

Ask the employee to inform you of the number and name as they are shown on the social security card when it is received. Then correct your previous report by filing Form W-2c showing the employee's SSN. If the employee needs to change his or her name from that shown on the card, the employee should call the SSA at 1-800-772-1213 (toll free except in American Samoa).

If you do not provide the correct employee name and TIN on Form W-2AS, W-2GU, or W-2VI, you may owe a penalty unless you have reasonable cause. For more information, see Publication 1586, Reasonable Cause Regulations and Requirements for Missing and Incorrect Name/TINs.

Show the employer identification number (EIN) assigned to you by the IRS (00-0000000). This should be the same number that you used on your Form 941-SS, 944-SS, or 943. Do not use a prior owner's EIN. If you do not have an EIN, enter "Applied For" in box b; do not use your SSN. You can get an EIN by applying online at IRS.gov, by calling the toll-free (except in American Samoa) number 1-800-829-4933, or by filing Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number.

This entry should be the same as shown on your Form 941-SS, 944-SS, or 943.

You may use this box to identify individual forms. You do not have to use this box.

Enter the name as shown on the employee's social security card (first, middle initial, last). Do not enter "Jr.," "Sr.," etc. on Copy A unless the suffix appears on the card. You may enter an employee's name suffix in the designated area of box e, but SSA prefers that you do not enter the suffix on Copy A. If the name does not fit, you may show first name initial, middle initial, and last name (and ignore the vertical lines). If the name has changed, the employee must get a corrected card from any SSA office. Use the name on the original card until you see the corrected card. Do not show titles or academic degrees, such as "Dr.," "RN," or "Esq.," at the beginning or end of the employee's name.

Include in the address the number, street, apartment or suite number (or P.O. box number if mail is not delivered to a street address).

Third-party payers of sick pay filing a third-party sick pay recap Form W-2AS, W-2GU, or W-2VI must enter "Third-Party Sick Pay Recap" in place of the employee's name in box e. Do not enter the employee's SSN in box a. See section 6 of Pub. 15-A.

Show the total taxable wages, tips, and other compensation (before any payroll deductions) you paid to your employee during the year, such as: (a) wages, bonuses, prizes, and awards; (b) noncash payments, including certain fringe benefits; (c) tips reported; (d) taxable cost of group-term life insurance over $50,000; (e) distributions from a nonqualified or nongovernmental section 457(b) plan; and (f) cost of current insurance protection under a compensatory split-dollar life insurance arrangement. Other compensation includes amounts you pay the employee from which income tax is not withheld. You may show other compensation on a separate Form W-2AS, W-2GU, or W-2VI.

Show the total American Samoa, Guam, or USVI income tax withheld.

Show the total wages paid (before payroll deductions) subject to employee social security tax. Do not include tips. Generally, noncash payments are considered wages. If you paid the employee's share of social security and Medicare taxes rather than deducting them from wages, see Employee's social security and Medicare taxes paid by employer on page 4. The total of boxes 3 and 7 cannot be more than $106,800 (2011 maximum social security wage base). See Pub. 80 (Circular SS) for more information.

Show the total employee social security tax (not your share) withheld or paid by you for the employee, including social security tax on tips. For 2011, the amount shown should not exceed $4,485.60 ($106,800 x 4.2%). Include only tax withheld (or paid by you for the employee) for 2011 wages and tips. If you paid your employee's share, see Employee's social security and Medicare taxes paid by employer on page 4.

Show the total wages paid and tips reported subject to employee Medicare tax. There is no wage base limit for Medicare tax. Be sure to enter tips the employee reported even if you did not have enough employee funds to collect the Medicare tax for those tips. If you paid your employee's share of taxes, see Employee's social security and Medicare taxes paid by employer on page 4.

Enter the total employee Medicare tax (not the employer's share) withheld or paid by you for the employee. Include only tax withheld for 2011 wages and tips. The rate is 1.45% of all wages and tips. If you paid your employee's share of taxes, see Employee's social security and Medicare taxes paid by employer on page 4.

Show the tips that the employee reported to you even if you did not have enough employee funds to collect the social security tax for the tips. The total of boxes 3 and 7 should not be more than $106,800 for 2011. Report all tips in box 1, along with wages and other compensation. Include in box 5 any tips reported in box 7.

The purpose of box 11 is for the SSA to determine if any part of the amount reported in box 1 or box(es) 3 and/or 5 was earned in a prior year. The SSA uses this information to verify that they have properly applied the social security earnings test and paid the correct amount of benefits.

Show distributions to an employee from a nonqualified deferred compensation plan or nongovernmental section 457(b) plan. Also report these distributions in box 1. Make only one entry in this box. Distributions from governmental section 457(b) plans must be reported on Form 1099-R, not in box 1 of Form W-2AS, W-2GU, or W-2VI.

If you did not make distributions this year, show deferrals (plus earnings) under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan or any section 457(b) plan that became taxable for social security and Medicare taxes during the year (but were for prior year services) because the deferred amounts were no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture. Also report these amounts in boxes 3 (up to the social security wage base) and 5. Do not report in box 11 deferrals included in box(es) 3 and/or 5 and deferrals for current year services (such as those with no risk of forfeiture).

If you made distributions and are also reporting any deferrals in box(es) 3 and/or 5, do not complete box 11. See Pub. 957, Reporting Back Pay and Special Wage Payments to the Social Security Administration, and Form SSA-131, Employer Report of Special Wage Payments, for special reporting instructions for these and other kinds of compensation earned in prior years. However, do not file Form SSA-131 in this situation if the employee will not be age 62 or older by the end of that year.

Complete and code this box for all items described on pages 7 and 8. On Copy A, do not enter more than four items in box 12. If more than four items need to be reported in box 12, use a separate Form W-2AS, W-2GU, or W-2VI for additional items. You may enter more than four items on all other copies when using an approved substitute form.

Show the IRS code (using a capital letter or letters) to the left of the vertical line in boxes 12a–12d and the dollar amount to the right of the vertical line. Use decimal points but no dollar signs or commas (for example, D 5300.00).

Check all boxes that apply.

Generally, an employee is an active participant if covered by (a) a defined benefit plan for any tax year that he or she is eligible to participate, or (b) a defined contribution plan (for example, a section 401(k) plan) for any tax year that employer or employee contributions (or forfeitures) are added to his or her account. For additional information on employees who are eligible to participate in a plan, contact your plan administrator.

For details on the active participant rules, see section 219(g)(5); Notice 87-16, 1987-1 C.B. 446; and Pub. 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs). Also see Notice 98-49, which is on page 5 of Internal Revenue Bulletin 1998-38 at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-irbs/irb98-38.pdf PDF.

Do not check this box for contributions made to a nonqualified plan or section 457(b) plan.

• Third-party sick pay. Check this box only if you are a third-party sick pay payer filing a Form W-2AS, W-2GU, or W-2VI for an insured's employee or are an employer reporting sick pay payments made by a third party. See section 6 of Pub. 15-A.

The lease value of a vehicle provided to your employee and reported in box 1 must be reported here or on a separate statement to your employee. You also may use this box for any other information that you want to give to your employee, such as health insurance premiums deducted, union dues, voluntary after-tax contributions (but not designated Roth contributions) to a pension plan, or nontaxable income. Label each entry.

Type entries using black ink and 12-point Courier font. Make all entries without the dollar sign and comma but with the decimal point (00000.00). If a box does not apply, leave it blank.

This is an optional box that you may use for numbering the whole transmittal.

Check only one box unless the second checked box is "Third-party sick pay." If you have Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI with more than one kind of payer, send each type with a separate Form W-3SS. However, "third-party sick pay" does not designate a separate kind of payer. When this box is checked, it will always be in addition to the box that designates the kind of payer.

Check the box that applies to you. Check only one box unless the second box checked is "Third-party sick pay".

Show the number of completed individual Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI filed with this Form W-3SS. Do not count "Void" forms.

You may use this box to identify separate establishments in your business. You may file a separate Form W-3SS, with Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, for each establishment even if they all have the same EIN; or you may use a single Form W-3SS for all Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI of the same type.

If you received a preprinted Form W-3SS from the IRS with Pub. 80 (Circular SS), verify that your EIN is correct. Make any necessary corrections on the form. If you are not using a preprinted IRS Form W-3SS, enter the nine-digit EIN assigned to you by the IRS. The EIN should be the same as that shown on your Form 941-SS, 944-SS, or 943 and in the following format: 00-0000000. Do not use a prior owner's EIN. If you do not have an EIN, see Box b—Employer identification number (EIN) on page 6. See also Box h below.

If you are not using a preprinted Form W-3SS, enter your name and address as shown on your Form 941-SS, 944-SS, or 943. Make any necessary corrections on your preprinted Form W-3SS.

If you have used an EIN (including a prior owner's EIN) on Form 941-SS, 944-SS, or 943 submitted for 2011 that is different from the EIN reported in
box e on this form, enter the other EIN used.

Include this information for use by the SSA if questions arise during processing.

Enter the totals reported in boxes 1 through 7 of Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI being filed with this Form W-3SS.

Enter the total reported in box 11 on Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI being filed with this Form W-3SS.

Enter the total of all amounts reported with codes D through H, S, Y, AA, BB, and EE in box 12 on Forms W-2AS, W-2GU, W-2CM, or W-2VI. Do not enter a code.

Third-party payers of sick pay (or employers using the optional rule for Form W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI described in section 6 of Pub. 15-A) filing third-party sick pay recap Forms W-2AS, W-2CM, W-2GU, or W-2VI, and W-3SS must enter "Third-Party Sick Pay Recap" in this box. See section 6 of Pub. 15-A for details.

Complete this box only if you are the employer and have employees who had income tax withheld on third-party payments of sick pay. Show the total income tax withheld by third-party payers on payments to all of your employees. Although this tax is included in the box 2 total, it must be shown separately here.

Check this box for the type of forms you are submitting with this Form W-3SS.

The signature on Copies A and 1 of Form W-3SS must be an original (not a copy).