I was able to pay and EFILE with form 4852 attached. My return was also accepted from the IRS per the confirmation email I received. I did call the IRS beforehand and gave them a stern warning that I could not obtain my w-2 from my previous employer, and I used last year's w-2.
They said they sent my previous employer a notification but after 10 days still nothing. I called the IRS back and advised again and they said to file with form 4852 and I also told the agent I wanted this documented in my file so at the time of retribution there are no surprises.
At the end of my income review I checked the box - I did not get a W-2. I printed out that document and saved it to PDF for my records as the instructions said to do.
Either the support instructions are old or something has changed and the people answering these questions on here don't know. Or I'll be **bleep** out of luck. I hope it's not the latter.
