As discussed, employers are issued tax rates on either an annual or interim basis. The written notification is the Tax Rate Notice, Form C-22. The Form C-22 explains the steps involved in the tax rate computation. It also contains the pertinent data from the employer's account required for the tax rate computation. The Mail Room personnel prepare the Tax Rate Notices for mass mailing to employer.
As discussed, changes are routinely made to employer accounts on a daily basis and the account appears on the daily activity list. In those situations where rate changes occur, it is necessary to correspond with the employer to properly notify them of the action taken. The tax accounting system is programmed to generate a letter when an 84-system stop is released for an account with a tax rate change. The accounts examiner must review the computer-generated letter to determine it is appropriate as to form and content. Revised tax rate notices are also generated by releasing the stop and are mailed with the letter. If the computer-generated letter is not adequate, the accounts examiner prepares the appropriate correspondence.
The processing of Partial Transfers of Compensation Experience may require tax rate changes for any of the accounts involved. The accounts examiner should prepare a letter stating the changes to the employer's account which will accompany the revised Forms(s) C-22, Tax Rate Notice(s).
Employers and field representatives submit requests for information and inquire via telephone, fax, letter and e-mail. Within the statutory and policy guidelines regarding confidentiality, this task may be completed by preparing a letter, by mailing computer-generated forms which provide information or a respond by email.
Composing executive letters in response to employer inquiries that are written for an Executive or Commissioner signature requires following a specific set of procedures.
Another method of dealing with employer inquiries is to contact the employer by telephone and discuss their concerns.
The most common inquires involve requests for information regarding the experience rate computation. Most often, the employer requests the listing of chargebacks which were included in the current year tax rate computation. This information is contained in the C-66a Chargeback Summary which is obtained in hard copy form by keying the EID and quarters requested on the Benefits - Chargeback Correspondence Selection screen (CBCR). A record is placed on the Benefits Correspondence List (CMCL).
Employers also request duplicate copies of Form C-22, Tax Rate Notice. These are requested on the Rate Notice Request Screen (RNR). The Administrative Technician assigned to the Experience Rating Unit is responsible for the task of ordering and mailing these types of requests. A copy of all correspondence is sent to the Controller, Micrographics Unit for filming and assignment of a Document Locator Number in order to properly document the action taken for future reference. File copies of Tax Department correspondence to the employer are sent to Micrographics for filming and for TDO.
The Experience Rating Unit retains information for reference on microfiche. The following is a brief description of the types of information. The usual retention for all categories would be ten years.
- The detail of previous chargeback adjustment runs is retained on microfiche.
- The annual purge of four quarters of chargeback information from the benefits files.
- The entire Employer Master File from the previous tax accounting system before October 5, 1992 which was the date of conversion to the new accounting system.
