Get your W-2 filing status from SSA BSO through an API

What you can build on BSO

• Check W-2 submission status

  Build this

  Reads the Search Results page of View Submission Status for a receipt year: each WFID, its version, status and any resubmission notice.

  Takes

  Receipt year, WFIDs (optional, up to 5)

  Returns

  WFID, version, status, receipt date, status date, filing method, resubmission notice

• Get employer report status and errors

  Build this

  Reads View Employer Report Status for a tax year: the reports a third party filed for you, with each report's summary and error counts.

  Takes

  Tax year

  Returns

  Status, receipt date, report method, report type, W-2 count, critical errors, informational errors, totals

• Verify employee names and SSNs

  Build this

  Enters up to 10 names and SSNs on the SSNVS SSN Verification page and reads the SSN Verification Results table.

  Takes

  EIN, list of SSN, first name, middle name, last name, suffix, date of birth

  Returns

  Name, SSN as shown, result (verified, failed code 1, 3, 5 or 6, deceased), totals

• Request a resubmission extension

  Build this

  Requests an extension to file a resubmission, with the EIN, WFID and receipt year from a resubmission notice.

  Takes

  EIN, WFID, receipt year

  Returns

  WFID, request accepted or refused, message shown

Automate BSO with a workflow

A workflow runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

• Returned W-2 submissions, checked every weekday

  Build this

  Starts

  Every weekday at 8:00

  Step 1

  Check W-2 submission status for receipt year 2026.

  Step 2

  Keep the WFIDs whose status changed since the last run.

  Step 3

  Email you each one, with Return and its resubmission notice listed first.

• New hires checked against SSA records

  Build this

  Starts

  When your HR system calls the workflow's webhook with the day's new hires

  Step 1

  Verify the new hires' names and SSNs in SSNVS, 10 at a time.

  Step 2

  Keep the employees whose result is a failed code or deceased.

  Step 3

  Post them, with name and result, to your HR system's webhook.

• Weekly check of reports your payroll provider filed

  Build this

  Starts

  Every Monday at 9:00

  Step 1

  Get employer report status and errors for last tax year.

  Step 2

  Keep reports that are new or whose status or error count changed since the last run.

  Step 3

  Email you each one with its report method, W-2 count and critical errors.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a method, it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Check W-2 submission status” would look like.

curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "secure.ssa.gov/check_w2_submission_status",
    "input": {
      "receipt_year": 2026
    }
  }'

{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "receipt_year": 2026,
    "submissions": [
      {
        "wfid": "K7M2Q9",
        "version": 1,
        "status": "Complete",
        "receipt_date": "2026-01-22",
        "status_date": "2026-02-18",
        "filing_method": "Wage File Upload",
        "resubmission_notice": false
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

BSO’s own options

SSA's Electronic Wage Reporting Web Service lets payroll software submit EFW2 wage files and retrieve their status, but SSA says it is not accepting new EWR Web Service users. Employers file through BSO itself: W-2 Online, Wage File Upload and the status pages. Free SSN checks are in SSNVS, and the fee-based CBSV gives automated verification to enrolled companies.

Read on November 12, 2026: Electronic Wage Reporting Web Service (EWRWS), Verifying Social Security Numbers, Business Services Online.

Signing in to BSO

BSO signs you in with Login.gov or ID.me, and access requires multifactor authentication. Wage reporting also needs your organization registered by its REO, and SSNVS needs an activation code mailed to the employer. With Fous you sign in through BSO's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, never returned by the API or written to logs, and code and AI agents never see it.

Worth knowing

New registration since November 7, 2026

Wage reporting services now need a Responsible Entity Officer to register the EIN and enter a code that takes 15 to 20 days to arrive by mail. SSNVS is not affected.

Final status takes one to six weeks

Final submission information appears one to six weeks after you submit. Errors from Wage File Upload are not listed in Submission Status: you upload the same file again to see them.

45 days to resubmit a returned file

A resubmission notice gives you 45 days to fix and upload the file. An extension cannot be requested once you have resubmitted for that WFID or after the 45 days.

Ten SSNs per online request

The SSN Verification page takes up to 10 names and SSNs at a time, with no limit on requests per session. Larger batches go as a file for overnight processing.

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