What Is a W2 Form Used For?
The W-2 form is one of the most common tax forms in the United States.
Other People Are Reading
-
Significance
-
The W-2 is a form employers are required by law to send to employees at the end of the calendar year. The form summarizes the employee's earnings and tax deductions for the year, and it is the official source of information the employee must use to prepare an annual tax return.
Features
-
The W-2 contains some or all of the following information, depending on the recipient's circumstances:
The employee's Social Security number
The Employer Identification Number (EIN)
The employer's name and address
Control number
The employee's full name
The employee's address
The employee's wages, tips and other compensation
The amount of federal income tax withheld
Social Security wages
Social Security tax withheld
Medicare wages and tips
Medicare tax withheld
Social Security tips
Allocated tips
Advance EIC payment
Dependent care benefits
Non-qualified plans
Employer's state ID number
State wages, tips
State income tax
Local wages, tips, etc.
Local income tax
Locality name
-
Time Frame
-
Employers are required to send employees their W-2 forms by Jan. 31 of the year for which the taxes are being reported. Example: For the tax return that was due on April 15, 2006, the employee must have received a W-2 form by Jan. 31, 2005.
Size
-
W-2 forms are typically very small, about the size of a half sheet of paper. Employees receive several copies: one for the federal tax return, one for the state return and one for personal records.
Considerations
-
For all the information they contain, the box layout of the W-2 form makes it very easy to use in preparing a personal tax return. Tax forms specify where on the W-2 form the required information is located.
-
Resources
- Photo Credit tax defined image by Christopher Walker from Fotolia.com
