Re: TaxID validation resources

On 02-Jul-2014 11:13 -0500, Englander, Douglas wrote:

Does anyone know what the rules are for validation of US Social
Security number/TaxID#?

Other than that the Area, Group, and Serial numbers can not be all-zeroes, I am not sure there are anything more than some legacy guidelines and\or conventions; AFaIK those conventions may no longer hold. And until the processing by state offices was replaced by federal control, even some of the documented conventions may have been broken.?

Is there a webservice available?

For wage reporting (Form W-2) purposes there is a web-based service for employers; instant or batched: The Social Security Number Verification Service.
<https://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/ssnv.htm>

For other purposes, e.g. for banking\credit, there is the fee-based Consent Based Social Security Number Verification (CBSV) Service. Use of the CBSV might best be deferred to another\third party that is already authorized and paying for the service so they can perform a broader service for multiple parties using their already paid access; e.g. credit checks or background checks.
<http://www.ssa.gov/cbsv/webservice.html>

Is there one place (internet link) where I can go to that would list
the "rules" that a number must pass in order to be a validly formed
SS# (not necessarily active/assigned to someone, just correct
formation of numbers)?

As alluded above, the /rules/ may not be entirely fixed\solid beyond some very simple tests. And for identity security reasons, AFaIK the somewhat recent /randomization/ process for the SSN likely has dispensed with most of the past conventions\rules, other than the one definitive requirement that all components of the SSN are non-zero.?

I looked on the internet, but there does not seem to be one concise
place to go to that is official.

www.ssa.gov is the official site.

<https://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/verifySSN.htm#>
_Social Security Number Verifications_