By Maria Meyers

Spring is here, and with it comes a fresh reminder of tax obligations. Many people will spend hours upon hours filling out and filing paperwork. It's enough to ruin spring's blossoms and breezes.

Social Security may be just a small piece of the tax puzzle, but for many small business owners it's a very big mystery, a very big headache and a very big pile of paper. W-2s must be completed and filed for every employee. Often those W-2s end up in the hands of the IRS instead of where they belong, at the Social Security Administration. Or W-2s are sent to the right place, but are filed with the wrong Social Security numbers. Those W-2s are then kicked back, resulting in additional processing costs and uncredited earnings for employees.

Help Is Just a Hyperlink Away
The Social Security Administration has a solution that cuts through the paperwork and gets you back to those blossoms-and your business-faster. As a bonus, it saves you the hassle and costs of accidentally misfiling your employees' earnings.

Business Services Online, at www.ssa.gov/bso, allows business owners to electronically check and file their W-2s. By using this online tool, you can cut through the paperwork, time and hassles of wage reporting.

One of those hassles revolves around Social Security numbers. Too often, employees' Social Security numbers are incorrect-numbers are transposed or employees inadvertently use their child's number rather than their own. In the best-case scenario, the W-2s are returned. But unmatched records can lead to processing costs for you or uncredited earnings for your employees.

Verify Social Security Numbers
One application in Business Services Online helps nip Social Security number problems before they grow into something that could affect employees' eligibility for Social Security benefits. The Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) allows employers to check that employees are accurately matched with the right Social Security numbers-before W-2s are prepared and submitted. Employers can input up to 10 names and Social Security numbers for immediate verification, or up to 250,000 names and numbers with results delivered within the next business day.

Be warned, using the SSNVS as any kind of job screening process or to check on an employee's immigration status could subject you to anti-discrimination or labor law sanctions. Employers can only use the system with existing employees to make sure Social Security numbers are recorded correctly.

File W-2s Electronically
In addition to the Social Security Number Verification Service, Business Services Online offers another way to expedite wage reporting. "W-2 Online" allows business owners to file their W-2s electronically and really cut through the W-2 paperwork.

With W-2 Online, employers can securely upload up to 20 W-2s at a time and file them as late as March 31-a full month later than other filers. The system issues an electronic receipt, generates W-3s for employers and allows tracking of the W-2 report as it's processed. You just need a personal computer with Internet access, a Web browser with "cookies" enabled and capable of 128-bit encryption, a printer and a copy of Adobe Acrobat.

Employers must register online to access any of the Business Services Online tools.

Hyperlink Backed by Hard Copies
The Social Security Administration, with help from KCSourceLink, helps employers navigate Business Online Services with hardcopy instructions available in the Entrepreneur's Resource Kit.

The kit is a handy guide that spells out-step by step-your obligations to Social Security, and how to properly file online. The kit includes information and instructions for SSNVS and W-2 Online, as well as a general overview of Social Security benefits, what you need to know when you retire from your business and how (Schedule SE) and where (the IRS) to report your earnings if you're self-employed.

KCSourceLink adds more information to the Entrepreneur's Resource Kit, giving small business owners a head start and a guide as they plan their businesses. In addition to the Social Security Administration's information, there is a business plan outline and checklist for those who are building businesses in Missouri and Kansas.

In Kansas City, Mo., packets are now available at the Business Resource Center at 4747 Troost; the Missouri Secretary of State's office at 615 E. 13th St.; the Business Assistance Center in City Hall at 414 E. 12th St., 15th floor; Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce at 634 N.W. Englewood; North Kansas City Public Library at 2251 Howell; Kansas City Public Library main branch at 14 W. 10th St.; and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce at 911 Main St., 2600 Commerce Tower.

Maria Meyers, Network Builder, leads the KCSourceLink and U.S.SourceLink team. Founding sponsors of KCSourceLink, a program of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at University of Missouri-Kansas City, are the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at UMKC and the U.S. Small Business Administration. KCSourceLink's network services are free. For more information, visit www.kcsourcelink.com, call (816) 235-6500 or (866) 870-6500 or send e-mail to .