Previous employer went out of business and I am unable to get a pay stub to fill out form 4852, what do I do?

[Wonderingman]

My previous employer used a website for pay stubs and did not provide paper copies when is closed last year. How would I fill out my taxes this year if they did not provide a W-2 or a paper pay stub? 

[ColeenD3 · Accepted solution]

If you haven’t received your W-2, follow these steps:

1. Contact your employer If you have not received your W-2, contact your employer to inquire if and when the W-2 was mailed. If it was mailed, it may have been returned to the employer because of an incorrect or incomplete address. After contacting the employer, allow a reasonable amount of time for them to resend or to issue the W-2.
2. Contact the IRS If you do not receive your W-2 by February 14th, contact the IRS for assistance at 800-829-1040. When you call, you must provide your name, address, city and state, including zip code, Social Security number, phone number and have the following information:

• Employer’s name, address, city and state, including zip code and phone number
• Dates of employment
• An estimate of the wages you earned, the federal income tax withheld, and when you worked for that employer during 2020 The estimate should be based on year-to-date information from your final pay stub or leave-and-earnings statement, if possible.

Here are some more options:

• Order a copy from the Social Security Administration. It's free if you need it for Social Security-related reasons; otherwise, it's $86 per request.
• Order a full copy of your return from the IRS for $50, which will also include your W-2.
• Wage and income transcripts are available from the IRS free of charge. 

• They're not exact copies, but they contain everything on your W-2 except the state and local information.

[Wonderingman]

Thank you for this information, I've never encountered a time when a company did not provide a W-2 and since it has gone out of business I had no one at the company to contact. I think with this information I will be able to recover the information I need to be able to file my taxes this year.