How To File Taxes Without A W2 – This article was co-authored by Cassandra Lenfert, CPA, CFP®. Cassandra Lenfert is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) in Colorado. She advises clients nationwide through her tax firm, Cassandra Lenfert, CPA, LLC. With over 15 years of tax, accounting, and personal finance experience, Cassandra specializes in working with individuals and small businesses on effective tax planning to help them save more money to reach their goals. He received his BA in Accounting from the University of Southern Indiana in 2006.
There are many reasons why you might want to get copies of old W-2 forms. Maybe you need copies of old W-2s because you’re facing an audit or, even more exciting, if your accountant tells you that you can get money for back taxes. You may have encountered a situation where you are asked to provide proof of income even though you did not make enough money to file taxes, or you may be trying to file your taxes for the previous year, and have not received the W-2 form that you know you should have.
How To File Taxes Without A W2
This article was co-authored by Cassandra Lenfert, CPA, CFP®. Cassandra Lenfert is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) in Colorado. She advises clients nationwide through her tax firm, Cassandra Lenfert, CPA, LLC. With over 15 years of tax, accounting, and personal finance experience, Cassandra specializes in working with individuals and small businesses on effective tax planning to help them save more money to reach their goals. He received his BA in Accounting from the University of Southern Indiana in 2006. This article has been viewed 1,726,468 times.
Form W 2
If you need a copy of an old W-2 form, first call the payroll department of the company you worked for at the time. If you can’t contact the company, call your tax preparer and ask if they can get you a copy of your old W-2. Whichever method you take, you’ll need to provide your social security number to verify your identity. You should also be sure to tell the person the correct year the W-2 was issued, and make sure you have the correct address on file. Continue reading this article if you want to learn more from our Correspondence Advocate, such as how to get a copy of your W-2 forms from the IRS. As you prepare to file your taxes and try to get all your paperwork. so this year, lost form may make you wonder if you can take shortcuts. Maybe you lost your W-2 or maybe it never showed up. Can you still file your taxes, or does doing so put you at legal risk?
By law, it is possible to legally pay taxes without your W-2 if you file electronically, but in order to do your taxes correctly, you will need the information contained on your W-2. This includes the following:
When you file electronically, you don’t need to submit a copy of your W-2 itself, but only the information from it. However, it is recommended that you keep your W-2 in a safe place in case you need to produce it in the future, such as in the event of an audit or for other purposes, such as background checks.
Keep in mind that your employer must file a W-2 form with the Social Security Administration (SSA) by the end of January and the SSA will share this information with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). So if the numbers you entered are different from what your employer reported, you may have an audit on your hands.
Detailed Beginner’s Guide: How To File Taxes 101
In case of an audit, you will need to produce documents (such as your W-2) to show your income and withholding. In such a case, you may end up in legal trouble if you cannot prove that the numbers you entered were in good faith.
The best place to find accurate wage and withholding figures on your W-2 form is your last paycheck of the year. If you don’t have this on hand, you may be able to get it online through your employer or get a copy from your company’s human resources office. The best way to make sure your information is accurate and matches what your employer has entered is to get the numbers directly from the W-2 itself.
Employers must send W-2s to the SSA and their employees by the end of January. This means that you should wait for the form to be sent by your employer on or before that time. However, you can get it a few days after the end of January if your employer sends it to you on the due date, which is 31 January.
While some employers mail these documents, others make them available electronically or provide them both. It’s always a good idea to keep your address and email up to date with your employer to prevent important documents from getting lost in the mail.
Get Educated: Learn How To Read Your W 2
As mentioned above, many employers now issue W-2 forms electronically. Since sending it by email is not always secure, often employers will send a link to an online portal where you can download the form yourself.
Make sure you double check your spam folder to see if the notification ended up there by mistake. If your employer has an online portal where you can access your paychecks, paid time off (PTO), and other employment information, log in to see if you can find a link on your W-2.
Some tax services may look for your W-2 electronically before you receive yours in the mail or if it is lost. The availability of your W-2 through such services depends on whether your employer has filed your W-2 yet or not, so it may take until the end of January to receive your W-2 this way.
This is the path of least resistance. If you haven’t received your W-2 by mid-February, contact your employer to find out what happened. This will solve the problem. Even if you just changed jobs in the last year, you still need to get a W-2 from your previous employer in order to file your taxes correctly.
File Your Taxes With A Missing Or Incorrect W 2 Or K 1
Call or email your HR representative to ask about the status of your W-2 and to make sure they have your correct mailing address, especially if you recently moved. What usually happens is that your employer mailed the form, but it got lost in the mail or went to the wrong address. If your previous employer does not have an HR department, try contacting your previous manager. You can always offer to pick it up yourself to save time.
Let’s say your W-2 never arrived and your employer or former employer refuses to resolve the situation. In that case, you can contact the IRS toll-free at 800-829-1040 or find the IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center and let them know. They will contact your employer and try to resolve the situation. The IRS, as a government agency, tends to be good at encouraging negligent employers who want to avoid legal consequences.
If you can’t find a copy of your W-2, you can still file taxes by filling out IRS form 4852, “Substitute Form W-2, Income, and Tax Statement.” Form 4852 is intended to be used only if your employer fails to issue you a W-2 or if your W-2 is incorrect. It should not be used to simply throw away your W-2. Keep in mind that you may face penalties if the IRS determines that you used this form to avoid paying taxes or entered fraudulent information.
The IRS does not accept online submissions of the 4852, so you will need to print and submit the required forms to the IRS. To complete this form, you will need to enter the following:
Trying To Get A W2 From A Former Employer Is Easy, Right?
The information you enter on this form may be an estimate of reliability. However, if you later receive information that indicates your numbers are incorrect, you will need to file an amended return with updated information.
If you are an independent contractor, you should not expect any W-2s. Instead, any company from which you earned more than $600 a year must send you a 1099-NEC form instead. This form serves the same purpose as the W-2, except that it will not show any withholding because, as an independent contractor, you are responsible for the taxes yourself.
If you fail to receive a 1099-NEC from the company, the same instructions apply. That is, you can contact the company if you fail to find it and file form 4852 and report the situation to the IRS if it proves to be fruitless. If you are self-employed, click here to learn more about how to file taxes without a W-2.
Regardless of whether or not it’s legal to file your taxes without your W-2, it’s best to wait to file until you have your W-2 in hand. Otherwise, you are taking a risk
