@Harleygirl wrote:
How do I report it if I don't have a W2? Or will the state of CA (who I claimed the unclaimed payroll check from) provide a tax document, or the original employer?
You can ask the original employer, they may or may not have the details depending on how long ago it was.
Also, if you know you worked for this employer, didn't you already get a W-2? If the wages on this check was included in a W-2 you already filed in a past year, then you already paid tax and you don't have to pay it again.
Or, let's suppose this was your last check and it was paid on January 2 of some year (let's guess 2018, just to have something to say). You filed your 2017 W-2, but you didn't realize the company would also send a W-2 for 2018, so you didn't report the income in 2018. You might be able to get that W-2 from the IRS by requesting a wage and income transcript for that year. Here's the link, you might need to request it by mail if it was more than 3 years ago.
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript
The reason this is important is that, if taxes were withheld, you might owe nothing further on the money now.
If it's a small amount, you might just list it as "other". If it's a large amount, it might be worth some research.
