How to Get a Missing W-2 Form
Your W-2 form, or wage and tax statement, has information vital for your tax preparation. Employers are required to mail W-2 forms to all employees by January 31 each year. Sometimes, however, the form gets lost in the mail, is sent to the wrong address or the employer fails to comply. If you don't receive your W-2 form, there are some steps that you can take to get this important document.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
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Contact your employer's human resource or payroll department. You should have no problem having the office issue another form. Ensure your correct address is on file. If the office has yet to mail, perhaps offer to pick it up personally. Some companies may also allow you to access it online. Your company may charge you a fee to send another copy of your W-2 form.
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Contact the Internal Revenue Service, IRS, at 800-829-1040, if your employer refuses to send the form. Have a recent pay stub handy so you can answer any questions. The IRS will send a notice to your employer informing that you did not receive your form and send you a Form 4852. If your employer still does not send you the form, you can fill out the 4852 and use that in place of the W-2.
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Call the IRS if your employer has gone out of business. Make sure you can provide the employer's name, last known address, employer ID number and your own employee information. Most of this information you can find on a previous pay stub. The IRS will attempt to contact your previous employer and mail you a Form 4852. Use the information on your pay stub to fill out this form and submit it in place of your W-2 form when you file your taxes. You will need a separate form for each missing W-2. Your refund may be delayed while the IRS verifies the information you provided on Form 4852.
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Tips & Warnings
W-2 forms are required to be mailed by January 31 so it may not arrive until mid-February.
You need to wait until February 15 before calling the IRS for help.
If you receive your W-2 form after you have already filed your taxes, and it has different information, you will need to amend your tax return.
You can also download and print Form 4852 from IRS.gov.
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References
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Comments
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eliptica
Feb 26, 2009
Thanks for the excellent information. I will be having to do this soon. Lol. It was nice to see you on the front page! -
Willow Sidhe
Feb 26, 2009
Thanks! This was very helpful, as my husband is having a hard time getting one of his W2's. 5*
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lainabell
Feb 26, 2009
Thats some good info. But actually the IRS will not make your employer send another W2. The law only requires that they send one W2 to your last known address. If you don't receive it for any reason the law allows them to charge a fee to give you another copy. They are required to keep a copy for at least 5 years. And yes, its the same for 1099s except you don't need Form 4852 because with 1099s you don't submit a copy when you file your taxes.
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sonni57
Feb 26, 2009
Thanks for the taking the time to help us out.
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cycomerlin14
Feb 26, 2009
Exactly what I needed to know! Thanks.
