Wage Reporting: Need to Know

Federal Certification

If the wages and payments reported on the annual IRS Form 940 do not align with what was reported and paid to DWD, the employer may receive a discrepancy letter from the IRS or DWD requesting an explanation. Common reasons for differences include reporting errors, multi-state employment, or timing differences.

If you receive a discrepancy letter:

1. Correct the error
   1. If the error is on your IRS Form 940, file a corrected 940 with the IRS.
   2. If the error is with your DWD wage report, you must amend your wage report with DWD. This can be done through the Employer Self Service (ESS) portal.
   3. Special Situations:

      If DWD made a wage adjustment due to an audit, estimation, or investigation, you cannot change those wages independently.  Instead, you must report the reason for the difference to the IRS and follow their guidance.

   4. Contact DWD for help:

If you are unsure how to proceed, contact DWD at 800-891-6499 (option 2 for employers) or email DWDESSCommunications@dwd.in.gov.

Employing units where multiple employers are consolidated under a single SUTA are federally certified according to the F E I N provided to the Agency for the workers on the Quarterly Wage and Employment report. Failing to provide all required elements of the quarterly wage report can adversely affect the employer’s federal certification.

Requesting Federal Recertification

Requesting a federal recertification: Sign into ESS, and select your Employer. Select Requests from the Left Hand Dropdown Bar. Select Request Federal Recertification. Select a year, and put a comment. Submit.

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