IRS Tax Tip 2010-28 Missing W-2

[taxea]

https://www.irs.gov

[erchess]

Can't you

just use e services to get a copy of the missing W-2?

[AJsTax]

not yet.

just use e services to get a copy of the missing W-2?

They have to be sent to SSA, that deadline is not here yet. and then forwarded to the IRS.
Most likely summer until you can access 2009 wages.

[taxea]

AJ is right

You can't get income of any kind for the current year from e-services until late in the summer.

[gkaiseril]

You can not use a substitute W2 until after Februray 15, 2010 for 2009 wages. You should also document what steps you used to try to obtain the W-2 and how your determined the amounts.

[S T]

For those that did not receive the email bulletin

Here are the 4 easy steps that IRS outlined in the bulletin

Four Steps to Follow If You Are Missing a W-2

Getting ready to file your tax return? Make sure you have all your documents before you start. You should receive a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement from each of your employers. Employers have until February 1, 2010 to send you a 2009 Form W-2 earnings statement. If you haven’t received your W-2, follow these four steps:

1. Contact your employer If you have not received your W-2, contact your employer to inquire if and when the W-2 was mailed. If it was mailed, it may have been returned to the employer because of an incorrect or incomplete address. After contacting the employer, allow a reasonable amount of time for them to resend or to issue the W-2.

2. Contact the IRS If you do not receive your W-2 by February 16th, contact the IRS for assistance at 800-829-1040. When you call, you must provide your name, address, city and state, including zip code, Social Security number, phone number and have the following information:

Employer’s name, address, city and state, including zip code and phone number
Dates of employment
An estimate of the wages you earned, the federal income tax withheld, and when you worked for that employer during 2009. The estimate should be based on year-to-date information from your final pay stub or leave-and-earnings statement, if possible.
3. File your return You still must file your tax return or request an extension to file by April 15, even if you do not receive your Form W-2. If you have not received your Form W-2 by April 15th, and have completed steps 1 and 2, you may use Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Attach Form 4852 to the return, estimating income and withholding taxes as accurately as possible. There may be a delay in any refund due while the information is verified.

4. File a Form 1040X On occasion, you may receive your missing W-2 after you filed your return using Form 4852, and the information may be different from what you reported on your return. If this happens, you must amend your return by filing a Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.

Form 4852, Form 1040X, and instructions are available on the IRS Web site, IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Sandy

[dtlee]

You can not use a substitute W2 until after Februray 15, 2010 for 2009 wages. You should also document what steps you used to try to obtain the W-2 and how your determined the amounts.

Can you cite a reference for that?

I know we used to wait until the 2/15 date, and I have found something from several years ago that seemed to allow this after 2/15, but I cannot find anything current except the instructions for the 4852 which say "Generally, do not file Form 4852 before April 15."

Thank you.

[David1980]

Can you cite a reference for that?

I know we used to wait until the 2/15 date, and I have found something from several years ago that seemed to allow this after 2/15, but I cannot find anything current except the instructions for the 4852 which say "Generally, do not file Form 4852 before April 15."

Thank you.

It's in Sandy's quote.

Step 2 is to contact the IRS if you haven't received it by Feb 16th. Step 1 is to contact the employer. Step 3 says to file the return, and if you have completed steps 1 and 2, you may use 4852. So you can use the 4852 before 4/15 if you've already tried obtaining the W-2 from the employer and also contacted IRS to try to obtain it from them.

My guess is 99% ignore those steps and just file the 4852...

Oh wait, I misread step 3. So yeah, I guess you never would use 4852 before 4/15.