LONG WINDED ANSWER WHY IT IS NOT ADVISABLE TO USE LAST PAY CHECK OR OTHERWISE FILE WITHOUT W-2
-W-2's will be out soon, some already, most by next week !!!
I too, like you, want to get my refund as fast as possible. However, I also want to stay out of trouble and not have to worry about entering bad data and having to do an Amended Return or getting a notice from the IRS.
I hope you are only trying to do some initial estimating but will wait to receive your W-2 from your employer and then enter the complete and correct information before filing. You could also for the moment click the "Skip the W-2 for now" button and go on to other parts of the program.
I'm not trying to be nasty or sarcastic but the fact is you get yourself in trouble more times than not jumping the gun. Below are live postings by folks who this year did and now regret it. Folks like yourselves.
Want to jump the gun? Believe Jackson Hewitt?
Throw caution to the wind and file without a W-2 that you'll have in the next several days anyway?
Get a load of these poor souls who believed that and look where it took them!
Here's a fellow who did not wait for his W-2 last year and now see what happened - read this link:
Just today 1/5/12 - Bad Move:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/post/show_full/df34wAn7Sr4BvUeJfaacvL/my-taxes-have-been-efiled-but-not-yet-...OR
https://ttlc.intuit.com/post/show_full/a5jHaiqSGr4kF_acfArr8m/amendment-issues?ppid=138276186OR THIS ONE
https://ttlc.intuit.com/post/show_full/d8okoMiPur4iAhacfArtYW/how-do-i-send-an-ammendment?ppid=13827... OR THIS ONE
https://ttlc.intuit.com/post/show_full/aSQ7tenL4r4z2reJfaacN5/i-just-recieved-mail-from-the-irs-sayi...OR THIS ONE WHERE THE FELLOW REALIZED NOT TO USE LAST PAYCHECK:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/post/show_full/bYLcugiPer4yIkeJfaacN5/how-do-i-deduct-nt-health-benefits-on-...So that said, please read!
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Time to beat the drums about waiting to receive your W-2 before filing!
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Just consider: You won't get any jump on your refund because the IRS won't start processing until January 17, 2012 anyway, by which time you will probably have your W-2 in hand most likely within the next week before the 17th!
If you want to use your last pay stub simply for estimation, fine, but to file - please read what follows.
Yes, to those who say, "I've done in before and it works!" I say to you that may be ok so long as you have no "cafeteria" benefits plan, no income which may be recharacterized, no pension plan, etc. But for the life of me, Why be in such a hurry when the simple fact is that by racing you get there no faster than the person who waits. Again, nothing -absolutely nothing - starts being processed until January 17th! See the article at the bottom if some tax preparer claims they can legally prepare your taxes without a W-2!
If you do not believe, then check these published calendars:
TURBOTAX SCHEDULE:
http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/iq/File-Electronically--current-year-/Important-Dates-and-Deadlin...NOTE: Turbotax "accepts" and "holds" ("stockpiles") your return starting January 5 but the IRS does not start until January 17.
http://www.efile.com/tax-refund/where-is-my-refund/http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/providers/article/0,,id=97448,00.html It is certainly up to you to do what you want when it comes to the subject of rushing forward with your last pay stub in hand or waiting the several days to several weeks to get your real actual Form W-2; the W-2 that is submitted to the IRS by your employer.
Most of the "SuperUsers" on this blog are long-time practitioners in tax filing or tax accounting, and the uniform recommendation from all will be to wait.
I accept the argument that certain tax preparation services, which shall remain nameless except for the court cases they have lost and the fines that they have paid in this matter, are perfectly happy to suggest that you can.
WHY NOT? The problem is that if you use your "last paycheck stub" as an estimator of what you think will be on the W-s there is a great chance you will guess wrong. This is particularly true if you have either some form of benefit such as a cafeteria plan or insurance [non-medical] most particularly life insurance, or you have any type of deferred compensation or savings plan, such as a 401(k), 403(b) or the like. The last paycheck stub dollar amounts in total will likely be right for gross income but the allocation may well change because when the W-2 is issued some monies paid to you are recharacterized and appear in other boxes than you expected.
So, WHAT'S THE RISK? If you guess wrong by using the last paycheck and the numbers don't match up, you will get the opportunity to receive an audit inquiry from the IRS and you will have the wonderful opportunity to learn the magical mysteries of filing an amended Form 104X and equivalent state form which is often even more mystical.
Form 1040X follows its own rules, requires you to do a number of calculations and frankly is confusing as the Dickens - far more so than the base Form 1040. State amendments can be even worse.
WHAT'S the GAIN? Not much because the IRS doesn't start processing and accepting your filing until AFTER JANUARY 17th at the earliest and that is only if you do not itemized deductions [no Schedule A] So rushing to file will not mean an earlier refund simply because the IRS will not have even started processing. If you itemize deductions on Schedule A, you are now stuck with a mid-February starting date of processing by the IRS - again no point rushing.
The problem is that there is a great chance you will either leave money on the table [over paid with no good reason and now lose it] or you will underpay taxes [and risk being audited because your income does not match the reported]
HOWEVER,
IF you have not received your W-2 yet, and it would seem unlikely since its only January 1, 2011, and W-2's typically start showing up late in the second week of January, you are strongly advised to wait.
Your W-2 may and typically does contain information and values not in your paycheck, so attempting to file without the official form is a pretty good predictor that you will either leave money on the table with the IRS or else get a letter saying you didn't leave enough - neither is a good situation.
Further, if you are filing by mailing in, you can't without submitting a copy.
While many folks really do need that refund money as soon as possible, be patient unless you want to become an expert in learning how to file an amended return!
For any tax-preparer to state that they can prepare and file your tax return without a W-2 is a violation of law.
Read below.
Publication 1345, Handbook for Authorized IRS e-file Providers for Individual Income Tax Returns when it states:
"EROs must not electronically file individual income tax returns prior to receiving Forms W-2, W-2G or 1099-R. If the taxpayer is unable to secure and provide a correct Form W-2 . . . the ERO may electronically file the return after the taxpayer completes Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement . . . If Form 4852 is used, the non-standard W-2 indicator must be included in the record, and the ERO must maintain Form 4852 in the same manner required for Forms W-2, W-2G and 1099-R."
If this posted response is useful to you, please click on the upraised hand in the lower left of this post. Thank you. Scruffy Curmudgeon--PFFM/ IAFF, retired FireFighter/Paramedic - Locals 718/30, Veteran USAR O3 AIS/ASA '65-'67
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- Just donating my time
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