How to Get Form W2 -Old and Current Easily?

1. What Is Form W2?

Form W2 is an annual certificate about an employee’s annual wage or salary, including the amount of taxes withheld from their wages. Employer will prepare W2 form for each employee who is paid at least $600 in a year and one copy to the worker and also file one copy with IRS.

2. How is Form W2 used?

Employers use W-2 forms to report Federal Insurance Contributions Act or FICA taxes for their employees and file an annual report for each employee with the Social Security Administration (SSA) by 31st January of the previous year. For example, for the year 2022, the W2 needs to be filed by 31st January 2023. So, the form W2 plays an important role in tax and social tax administration.

1. W2 form becomes the basis for employees to file a tax return and claim credits for taxes withheld.
2. IRS uses the form w2 figures to process the tax return filed by the person.
3. SSA uses the w2 form for granting and administrating social security benefits.

3. What is the form W2 deadline for filing with IRS and SSA?

The W2 deadline is set for 31st January of the year next to the full year, for which employers need to furnish to employees and file with SSA and IRS.There are provisions for a W2 deadline extension.

4. How to fill W2 box 12?

W-2 form box 12 has data input fields that are sub-categorised from A to HH. Each of those fields provides more information and determines if the amount is income for income tax reporting; for proper filling out, read the IRS instruction here.

5. How to get the back year’s W2 form transcript online?

If you are thinking, “can I find my w2 online ?”, then the answer is a yes, because IRS provides such a facility online and offline. While the law made employers responsible for furnishing form W-2 to employees, in case you lost it or somehow did not find it readily, there are ways that you can fetch your Form W2. Here are two online ways to get your w2 form copies

1. Ask IRS for the W2 transcript.
2. Use online tools of third parties like 

(i) Online Method to Get W2 taxes form transcripts from IRS

First online. For this, please visit irs.gov and click on “Get Your Tax Record” to request a wage and income transcript containing your W-2 information. If you are unable to use the IRS online request option, you can complete an IRS Form 4506-T.

(ii) Get form W2 taxes form transcripts from IRS by phone.

You can also request a transcript by mail by calling our automated phone transcript service at 800-908-9946.

6. How to seek an extension of time to file form W2?

The filing of form W2 is so important that the rules regarding the extensions for furnishing W2 or filing the W2 with IRS or SSA are quite tough. Unlike tax return filing, employers do not get automatic extensions for form W2 filing or furnishing.

What is the W2 deadline extension for form W2 with SSA

The employer can apply with SSA in Form 8809 with SSA for an extension of time to file. This extension request can be made only once, and the maximum period allowed is 30 days.

What is the W2 deadline extension for furnishing form W2 to employees

Employers must fax the request for an extension of time to furnish Forms W-2 to employees to the Internal Revenue Service Technical Services Operation on the fax number. 877-477-0572  (International Fax: 304-579-4105). 

The letter must have the employer’s name and address with EIN. It must also contain the following three important aspects of the request.

• A statement that you filed for request with IRS for  an extension to furnish “Forms W-2” to employees,
• The reason for the delay, and
• Your signature or that of your authorized agent.

How to get W2 adjusted gross income or w2 AGI?

First, you should note that no field informs you of your w2 AGI or adjusted gross income. the employer fills out fields for wages, social security tax withheld, federal tax, etc. You will need these authenticated data to compute your Adjusted Gross Income. In fact, IRS will process your tax return and compute your AGI after matching Form W2 filed by your employers.

Form W2 vs W-4. What’s the difference?

The IRS Forms W-2 and Form W-4 differ on various parameters. Form W4 is filled out by employees and given to employers who use it to decide the quantum of withholding from wages paid to the employee. The following table describes the differences between Form W2 and Form W4.

	Form W2	Form W4
1	Filled by employer	Filled by Employee
2	The employer gives it to the employee every year	The employee gives W4 to the employer when he joins
3	W2 certifies the tax withheld from employees’ wages. So, it is used by employees to claim a Refund and get their social security benefit.	W4 guides the employer about the TIN /SSN of the employee and how much tax and FICA tax are required to be withheld.

Who is a W2 contractor?

First of all, a contractor is given 1099 copies and form W2 as the form W2 is associated with an employee, and a contractual worker is not considered an employee. So, why does the term W2 contractor became popular? For that, we need to understand that if a person were employed by a government contractor ,the said contractor is still an employer who gave a temporary job to to his worker . Therefore , the contractor (the employer) will issue a Form W2 to the employee .

Meanwhile, the person would be working for the business that is paying the temporary work agency for his or her services. Thus, the person (employee ) is a short term contractor from the perspective of the government contractor who hired the employee for the temporary work.Thus, the term W-2 contractor become poplar , although it has no legal significance .