Unlike personal 1040 returns, W-2 and W-3 data travels through a special Intuit gateway to the Social Security Administration (SSA) first. As a result, it can take 2 to 4 weeks for the SSA/IRS to cycle through their processing and send an "Accepted" status back to the software. This further exacerbates the issue because the IRS officially opened the season later than usual (Jan 26), there is a massive "logjam" of data hitting the servers all at once.
Do not wait for the status to change to "Accepted" to give your employees their copies. The deadline to furnish W-2s to employees was February 2, 2026.
- The Workaround: Click the PDF button next to each employee's name in Quick Employer Forms. You can print or email these PDF copies to your employees immediately. The "Pending" status only affects the government's copy; the data on the form is sufficient for your employees to file their own taxes.
Do not resubmit the copies. As long as your status says "Processing" or "Transmitted," you have met the legal requirement of timely filing. Your submission is date-stamped.
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