[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 49 (Thursday, March 12, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14510-14511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05034]
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RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
Summary: In accordance with the requirement of Section 3506
(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 which provides
opportunity for public comment on new or revised data collections, the
Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will publish periodic summaries of
proposed data collections.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed information
collection is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information has practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the RRB's estimate of the burden of the collection
of the information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize
the burden related to the collection of information on respondents,
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Type of Information Collection: New Collection (Request for a new
OMB Control Number).
Title and purpose of information collection: Report of Stock
Options and Other Payments; OMB 3220-NEW.
The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is directed by 45 U.S.C.
231f(c)(2) to establish a financial interchange (FI) between the
railroad retirement and social security systems to place the Social
Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability
Insurance (DI) Trust Funds and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund in the same condition
they would have been had railroad employment been covered by the Social
Security Act and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). Each year,
the RRB estimates the benefits and expenses that would have been paid
by these trust funds, as well as the payroll taxes and income taxes
that would have been received by them. To make these estimates, the RRB
requires information on all earnings data that are not taxable under
the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA), but would be taxable under
FICA.
A recent court ruling, Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. U.S., determined
that non-qualified stock options (NQSOs) are not taxable under Section
3231 of RRTA but would be taxable under FICA. Additionally, in Union
Pacific Railroad Co. v. U.S., the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals
determined whether certain ratification payments were taxable under the
RRTA. The RRB requires
[[Page 14511]]
railroad employer to provide information on the value of NQSOs and any
ratification payments from the railroad employer separately from a
railroad worker's reported RRTA compensation to determine the payroll
taxes due to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and CMS and
administer transfer of funds between the RRB, SSA and CMS accordingly.
The payroll information collected from the BA-15 is essential for
the calculation of payroll taxes and benefits used by the FI. Failure
to collect NQSOs and ratification payment information will result in
understating the payroll taxes that should have been collected and the
benefit amounts that would have been payable under the Social Security
Act for FI purposes. Accurate compensation file tabulations are also an
integral part of the data needed to estimate future tax revenues and
corresponding FI amounts. Without information on NQSOs and ratification
payments, the amount of funds to be transferred between the RRB, SSA
and CMS cannot be determined.
The RRB will use Form BA-15, Report of Stock Options and Other
Payments, to request employer information and report identifying
information as well as each employee's social security number, name,
and compensation information, which will be reported annually in a
quarterly breakdown. The RRB plans to receive Form BA-15 by secure
Email, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), or via CD-ROM.
Estimate of Annual Respondent Burden
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Annual
Form No. responses Time (minutes) Burden (hours)
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BA-15 (by secure E-mail, FTP, or CD-ROM)--Positive.............. 50 300 250
BA-15 (by secure E-mail, FTP, or CD-ROM)--Negative.............. 550 15 137.5
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Total....................................................... 600 .............. 387.5
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Additional Information or Comments: To request more information or
to obtain a copy of the information collection justification, forms,
and/or supporting material, contact Kennisha Tucker at (312) 469-2591
or [email protected]. Comments regarding the information
collection should be addressed to Brian Foster, Railroad Retirement
Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-1275 or emailed
to [email protected]. Written comments should be received within 60
days of this notice.
Brian Foster,
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-05034 Filed 3-11-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7905-01-P