Still Missing Your W-2?

[Lauren Massie, Tax Specialist]

W-2s should have been mailed out by your employers no later than January 31st. If you haven't received your W-2 by now then consider doing the following:

1) Contact your employer. It is possible that they did send a W-2 but it got lost in the mail or returned.

2) Contact the IRS. If you don’t receive your W-2 by mid-February call the IRS at [phone]. Be prepared to provide your employer’s contact information, your dates of employment, and data from your last paycheck issued during 2012.

3) File your return. You must still file your return even if you don’t receive your W-2 by April 15th! Attach Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement to your return after you have completed steps 1 and 2 mentioned above.

4) File Form 1040X. You must file an amended return using Form 1040X if you receive your missing W-2 after you file your return and the data reported on the W-2 is different from what was filed.

Need a W-2 from a different year and unable to get it from your employer?  Learn how to request missing tax forms.

Related Articles:

2012 Federal Income Tax Rates

What’s New for 2012 Tax Returns (Due in April 2013)?

Standard Deductions vs. Itemized Deductions: Which Deduction Is Better For Tax Returns?

Simply Taxes, LLC is a local year-round tax preparation firm with an office located in North Raleigh. Our Raleigh accountants are ready to work one-on-one with you to help optimize your tax deductions and to resolve any other tax issues in a professional manner.

The information contained within this article is for general guidance only. As such, it should not be used as a substitute for consulting with professional accounting, tax, legal or other competent advisers.

[David DiGirolamo: Visual Comm.]

Very informative, thanks for posting Lauren!

[Lauren Massie, Tax Specialist]

No problem David! It never surprises me how many times I find errors on my client's W-2s each year.