What happens if I delete my old W-2s?

[windseclib]

I deleted my W-2s from 2021 while filing for 2022 because I didn't think I needed them, and my federal and state tax refunds increased. Why would my 2021 W-2s have any impact on 2022? I later read that I can delete a W-2 from an old employer if I am no longer working for them, but I haven't found anything about deleting a prior year W-2 from my current employer.

[Anonymous_]

Your old W-2s should not impact your 2022 return but the 2021 information from your 2021 W-2 should transfer in to your 2022 return in TurboTax.

From where are you "deleting" your W-2s, anyway?

[windseclib]

In the W-2 section of various tax preparation software. There is actually no option to do this in TurboTax but in FreeTaxUSA, my 2021 W-2s are in the same W-2 section where I imported by 2022 W-2s. If I delete the W-2s from 2021, my refunds go up. I am worried that by doing this, I removed information from my 2022 return that should be there, since you said the 2021 information from my 2021 W-2 should transfer in to my 2022 return.

Both TurboTax and FreeTaxUSA says that I can delete the old ones if I am no longer employed by the issuing employer, but neither says anything about an old W-2 issued by my current employer. To be clear, I had 2 W-2s from 2021, one from a prior employer and one from my current employer. 

[xmasbaby0]

@windseclib You only need to enter the income you received in 2022 on a 2022 income tax return.  If you had an old employer from an earlier year, and you did not work for that employer in 2022, and did not receive any income from that employer in 2022, there is no reason at all to keep that employer on your tax return.  You have nothing to enter for that employer if you did not get any sort of paycheck from them in 2022.

[windseclib]

xmasbaby0 Thank you. Does that also apply to my 2021 W-2 for my current employer (i.e., not necessary for my 2022 return)?

[xmasbaby0]

@windseclib Again-----you enter 2021 income on a 2021 tax return.   If you did not work for that employer in 2022 and did not receive any pay from that employer in 2022 you do not enter anything about that employer on your 2022 tax return.  There is no point in entering "zero" for income from an employer.  That would just give you errors when you try to e-file.

[windseclib]

Ok, but I am asking about my 2021 W-2 from my current employer, which I also worked for in 2022. I understand that I enter a particular year's income on that year's tax return. That's why I was surprised that when I removed a 2021 W-2, my refund changed. I would've thought that any information from 2021 is irrelevant for 2022. 

In TurboTax, I only entered my 2022 info as prompted; the software already had my info from 2021. In FreeTaxUSA, I did the same and got the same calculated return. However, in FreeTaxUSA, I also have the option to delete my 2021 W-2 (from the same employer that paid me in 2022). After doing so, my refund becomes much larger — even though my 2022 income didn't change. That is my point of confusion.