YOU should have received Form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) from your employer by now. If you did not, here are 10 tips to help you file:
1. Employers have until January 31 to furnish your W-2.
2. If you have not yet received your Form W-2, ask your employer when the W-2 was mailed.
3. If it was mailed, ask where it was mailed. It may have been returned to your employer because of an incorrect or incomplete address. Allow about a week or two for delivery.
4. If was not mailed, ask why it was not mailed. Write the response down for later use.
Ask your employer to mail it right away for receipt within a week.
5. If your employer did not even prepare one, ask why and discuss this with your tax preparer.
6. If you still do not receive your W-2 by February 15, contact the IRS for assistance at
(800) 829-1040. When you call, have the following information available:
-Employer’s name, address, and federal ID number, if available.
-Your name, address, and Social Security number.
Please understand that patience is a virtue when you call this 800 number.
7. If you misplaced your W-2, request your employer to send a copy. Be polite. Don’t make it appear that it was not mailed or that it’s your employer’s fault. You are just asking a favor.
8. You must still file your tax return on time, even if you do not have Form W-2.
9. If you still do not receive the missing information by early April, use substitute Form 4852. Attach Form 4852 to your return, in lieu of the missing form W-2. Use year-to-date numbers from your last paycheck in December. (Don’t tell me that you lost that too!)
10. If you receive a W-2C (corrected form) after you have filed your return using Form 4852,
amend your return by filing Form 1040X, Amended US Individual Income Tax Return.
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Victor Santos Sy, CPA, MBA, provides professional services in accounting and tax controversy including IRS audit defense and offers in compromise. He also advises clients on choices of entity including corporations for small businesses and LLCs for rentals. Vic worked with SyCip, Gorres, Velayo (SGV – Andersen Consulting) and Ernst & Young before establishing Sy Accountancy Corporation at 704 Mira Monte Place, Pasadena, CA 91101. The firm celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. You may email tax questions to Vic at [email protected]. You are welcome to visit our website for more than 300 tax tips at www.victorsycpa.com.