Retire Account Numbers When an Employer is Deceased

Submitted by admin on Tue, 05/04/2021 - 15:24
Policy: 

When an employer who was active in the F/EA program passes away, the employer's EIN and State Tax (State Income Tax and State Unemployment Tax) Account Numbers must be retired.

Quarterly, after all taxes for an employer have been filed, the assigned <<Staff Title>> revokes deceased employers' Employer Identification Numbers with the IRS.
 
Quarterly, after all taxes for an employer have been filed, the <<Staff Title>> revokes deceased employers’ State Tax (State Income Tax and State Unemployment Tax) Account Numbers.
 
Notice from tax agencies confirming revocation is tracked in the Customer Service System.
 
Note that these account numbers should only be retired when the employer is deceased.  If a participant passes away, but the participant had designated someone else to act as the employer for the participant's program, do not retire these account numbers.  Doing so will prevent the living employer from ever utilizing their EIN and State Account Numbers.  The IRS issues only one EIN for a sole proprietor per lifetime.
Procedure: 

Retire Employer Identification Number for Deceased Employers

  1. Quarterly, after all quarterly taxes for the employer have been filed and paid, <<Staff Title>> submits a letter to the Internal Revenue Service notifying of EINs that should be retired because the employer has passed away
  2. <<Staff Title>> opens letter template for "Retire Forms SS-4"
  3. Letter template states:

Dear Sir or Madam,

The following employers are deceased as of <<Insert Today's Date.>> Please retire the employers' Employer Identification Numbers.

<<List Employer Name>> <<List EIN for Employer Name>>

<<List as many employer names as needed.>>

Please contact <<Staff Name at number during available hours>> with any questions.

Sincerely,

<<Staff Name>> (can be any staff person)

<<Staff Title>>

4. Copy letter

5. Store copy of letter for each deceased employer in participant's file 

6. Submit letter to IRS office where F/EA's Aggregate Forms 941 are filed

7. For each deceased employer, record date letter was sent to IRS office in Customer Service System

8. The Internal Revenue Service will NOT issue a notice to the F/EA that the EIN has been retired.

 
Retire State Department of Labor Account Number

<<Insert Process to Retire State Department of Labor Account Number for Deceased Employers>>

 

 
Retire State Department of Revenue Account Number

<<Insert Process to Retire State Department of Revenue Account Number for Deceased Employers>>

 

 
Internal Controls: 

The internal controls used by F/EA to monitor this process establish responsibility, segregate duties, document procedures and ensure independent internal verification.

  1. Dates that request to retire account number are sent are tracked in the Customer Service System
  2. Dates that revocation notices are received are tracked in the Customer Service System
  3. All revocations are sent via Certified Mail
    • Certified Mail receipts are stored with copies of letters for a minimum of 7 years per File Retention Policy
  4. All revocation letters, confirmation sheets and revoked forms are scanned and stored in each participant’s scan file for a minimum of 7 years per File Retention Policy