Excess social security withholding and self-corrected W-2

[somethingother]

In this article, Turbotax recommends correcting Box 4 of the W-2 in the event an employer won't provide a corrected W-2 for excess social security withholding. However, to request a refund of this excess from the IRS, IRS Form 843 requires the original W-2 to prove such excess withholding (among other documentation). I'm in a situation where I cannot get a corrected W-2 or a rebate directly from my employer. I have a single W-2, as this is a PEO, from whom I've earned income from multiple clients.

Thus, this guidance from Turbotax sounds somewhat odd. I understand the reasoning somewhat, as it stands in place of a W-2C, but it still seems strange not to provide the original W-2 info, especially when the IRS requires it for Form 843. Furthermore, I can't seem to corroborate this guidance (to self-correct a W-2) with other sites or articles outside of Turbotax, not even the IRS.

Is this truly a legitimate way of addressing this issue? Are there any external references to this effect? Has anyone done this before and succeeded?

[DianeW777]

You can choose to mail your tax return.  The instructions given provide a way to e-file because that's the only way to pass the error checker and it is up to you to decide if you want to do that.  The IRS will recognize the actual W-2 when filed with Form 843,.  You can include a Form 843 with your tax return so that you can get your refund due to the PEO situation by mailing it.

There's no doubt mailing will take a great deal longer due to the current climate and lack of personnel at the IRS, so you should be prepared for that.

@somethingother

[Edited: 04/14/2023 | 9:37P PST]