[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
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    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