Rail Employer Reporting Instructions 

Part V – Reports of Creditable Service and Compensation 

Chapter 9: Time Limitations for Adjustment Reports 

Time Limitations Under the RRA 

Section 9 of the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) provides that the RRB's records of service and 

compensation are conclusive as to the amount of compensation paid during the period covered 

by the report, unless an error is called to the RRB's attention within four years of the day on 

which the report was required to be made. Employers are required to file with the RRB, on or 

before the last day of February, an annual report of service and compensation for employees who 

performed compensated service in the preceding calendar year. 

Likewise, the fact that no report of compensation was made is taken as conclusive information 

that no compensation was paid, unless the failure to make a report of the compensation is called 

to the RRB's attention within four years of the day on which the report was required to be made. 

Example of Time Limitation Under the RRA 

Reports of compensation and service for the year 2006 were due at the RRB on the last day of 

February 2007. The last day to submit a corrected report of service and compensation for the 

year 2006 would be the last day of February 2011. After February 28, 2011, the time limit for 

adjustments to Tier compensation earned in 2006 will have expired. 

Time Limitations Under the RUIA 

Section 6 of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) provides that the RRB's records 

of compensation are conclusive unless an error is called to the attention of the RRB within 

eighteen months of the date on which the return was required to be filed. The last day to submit a 

corrected report of RUIA compensation for the year 2006 would be August 31, 2008. 

Exceptions to the Four Year Adjustment Limitation 

Part 211.16 of the Railroad Retirement Board's Regulations allow corrections beyond the fouryear adjustment period in the following circumstances: 

 the compensation was posted or not posted as the result of fraud on the part of the 

employer; 

 the compensation was posted for the wrong person or wrong period; 

 the earnings were erroneously reported to the Social Security Administration in the 

good faith belief by the employer or employee that such earnings were not covered 

under the Railroad Retirement Act; 

 a determination pertaining to the coverage under the Railroad Retirement Act of an 

individual, partnership, or company as an employer, is retroactive; 

 in the judgment of the three-member Board, failure to make a correction would be 

inequitable. 

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Rail Employer Reporting Instructions 

Part V – Reports of Creditable Service and Compensation 

Chapter 9: Time Limitations for Adjustment Reports 

Error Discovered After the Allowed Adjustment period 

An employer who discovers an error in a compensation report beyond the four-year period 

should submit BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments, accompanied by an 

explanation of the delay and a statement regarding the payment of applicable taxes. An employee 

will not be credited with service months or Tier II compensation beyond the four-year period 

unless the employer establishes to the satisfaction of the Board that all employment taxes 

imposed by Sections 3201, 3211, and 3221 of title 26 of the Internal Revenue Code have been 

paid with respect to the compensation and service. 

Determining the Period for Retroactive Payments 

Reports adjusting prior-year service and compensation are due at the RRB by the end of the 

month following the calendar quarter in which the payment was made or the error or omission 

was determined. For example, if payment was made in July 2007 for a period of lost earnings in 

2002 and 2003, the report would be due by October 31, 2007. If an employer is filing an 

adjustment that appears to be beyond the four-year period, such as in the above example, the 

employer should complete item 16 on the adjustment report. This item allows an employer to 

identify current payments that are allocated more than four years prior to the current year. If the 

adjustment report is filed on magnetic media, the employer can put this information in the 

“Remarks” section of Form G-440 , Report Specification Sheet. 

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