Masking Social Security numbers on recipient forms

Masking is started in 1099Express by clicking on the FILE menu, then PAGE SETUP, then choosing the "Masking" Tab.

Masking SSNs means hiding the leading 5 digits of the SSN with an X and showing only the right 4 digits. Masking may used only on laser created recipient copies. Masking may not be used on the pre-printed forms. Currently, the IRS allows only Social Security Numbers (SSNs) to be masked. Employer ID numbers (EINs) may not be masked. Masking EINs is a violation of IRS rules and may result in a penalty. 1099 Express is not liable for such penalties, interest, etc. You should read and fully understand IRS Notice 2009.93 before masking your recipients Tax ID Numbers. Read IRS Notice.

SSNs are identified as numbers with 2 dashes such as 123-45-6789. EINs are identified as numbers with 1 dash such as 12-3456789. Numbers with no dashes, such as 123456789 could be either a SSN or an EIN. Never mask a number with no dashes unless you are certain it is a SSN.

If you have dash-less Tax ID numbers, see SOLUTIONS below for using Option 3.

Masking Options:

• 1. Do not Mask any SSNs. No Tax ID numbers are masked, whatsoever.
• 2. Mask only SSNs with 2 explicit dashes as XXX-XX-1234.
• 3. Mask SSNs with 2 explicit dashes as XXX-XX-1234. Also mask all numbers without dashes as XXXXX1234. Note: Never choose this option unless you are certain all dash-less numbers are SSNs. Masking an EIN is a violation of IRS Rules. see "Solutions" below.

Masking Rules:

1099Express counts the number of dashes, and makes decisions accordingly. TINs containing just one dash (in any part of the part of the TIN field) are assumed to be EINs and are never masked. TINs containing 2 dashes in position 4 and 7 are assumed to the SSNs. TINs with dashes in the wrong positions are not masked. Invalid TINs are not masked. Invalid means the TIN is not 9 numeric digits, contains alphabetic letters, spaces, asterisks, semicolons or other special characters, is empty, or not a valid number some other way.

Solutions:

If you have a large number of Tax ID numbers with no dashes, you must mask only the SSNs (Social Security Numbers), not the EINs (Employer Identification Numbers). Since you usually have more SSNs than EINS, the best way to attack this problem NOT to add two dashes to each SSN, although you could do it this way. The easiest way may be to add ONE DASH dash to all numbers which you know are EINs like this 72-1234567. Then choose Option 3 above. Because 1099 Express counts the number of dashes in the Tax ID. Option 3 does not mask numbers containing only ONE dash, but does MASK ALL OTHERs (no dashes or 2 dashes are masked).

One way to insert a dash using 1099 Express would be to simply double click each record and manually insert a dash, then click OK at the Data Entry Screen. Another way would be to export the entire grid to Excel, do the work, then paste it back (using Paste from clipboard). The best way to copy the grid from 1099 Express to Excel is to click on the File Menu, then click "Export Grid to Excel". This guarantees that leading zeros are not truncated by Excel in the SSN and Zip fields, by automatically formatting those columns to "Text" in Excel, thus saving you work.

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