FAQs About Fixing ACA E-Filing Errors in Zenefits

If you see one or more employee's names when you click Fix Errors on the ACA Filing page, this is because the Individual Name Control Code that is on file with the IRS for these employees is different from the one in Zenefits.

What causes this error?

The IRS uses the legal surname associated with an employee's SSN or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to generate the four character individual name control code. Zenefits generates this code using the name that an employee enters into Zenefits. If the names in both places don't match up, the control code in Zenefits won't match up to the one on file with the IRS. To determine this information, the IRS uses the name and Social Security Number that is registered with the Social Security Administration.

How can I determine the correct code?

You can determine your employee's individual control code using the first four characters of their legal last name. The code can contain only letters, numbers, ampersands ("&"), or hyphens ("-").

• If the employee doesn't have a hyphenated last name, and there are four or more letters, and simply use the first four. For example, if their name is John Smith, their control code is SMIT.
• If the employee's last name has fewer than four, use the full last name as the code. For example, if the employee's name is Jane Doe, their control code is DOE.
• If the employee's last name is hyphenated, use the first of the two last names as to generate the code. For example, if the employee's name is Victoria Windsor-Maple, their code is WIND.

How can I fix the error?

Administrators can fix these errors directly in Zenefits by clicking the Fix Errors button under the Filing tab. Zenefits will submit the corrected information to the IRS.

You'll want to either speak with the employee or view their Social Security card to ensure both their name and Social Security Number in Zenefits matches the information on their card. This step does not need to be completed with terminated employees.

For general questions about the error codes, please call the IRS e-Help Desk at (866) 937-4130 (choose option 3) for assistance.

Learn more about individual name control codes, and see these instructions to learn more about creating control codes. If you need to fix your business name control codes, see these instructions.

If your company is alerted by Zenefits that the IRS found errors with your filing, your company must do its due diligence to resolve those errors. Please see these pages on Fixing Business Control Code and Fixing Individual Control Code for information on how to resolve filing errors.

If the instructions linked above do not resolve the issue, there is no further action to take. Do not click the Send to IRS button. Clicking this button will cause the IRS to send another Accepted with Errors response and start the notification process over again. Leave the information as-is and your existing submission will be accepted by the IRS.

Keep in mind, if your company is unable to resolve the issue you should be prepared to show the IRS which steps you have taken to correct the filing error and document why these updates weren't made. The IRS will want to make sure that your company took any and all actions to correct the errors before moving forward.