@variant wrote:
Thanks.
To confirm, absent an amended W-2, I *must* report via form 8919 rather than 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC?
Because it is wages, the correct action is to report it as wages with unpaid social security tax using form 8919. If you were to report it was miscellaneous income, you would be dodging/avoiding paying any social security tax, which is fraud by you. If you reported it as self-employment income on schedule C as if it was a side business, you would be paying 15% self-employment tax instead of 7.65% social security and medicare tax, and it would still be technically incorrect.
We see this situation somewhat commonly where an employer wants to pay a one time bonus for some reason and is either unaware of the rules, or deliberately avoiding them. By not issuing paperwork and not including the payment on your W-2 wages, the employer is (through ignorance or intention) avoiding paying their matching share of social security and medicare tax, plus possibly other taxes and fees like state taxes for unemployment insurance, workers comp, family medical leave, and so on. Other people have reported it as self-employment and paid the double social security and medicare tax rather than filing a form that might bring attention to their employer, but I can't advise on what risks you might have in that situation.
