My employer won't give me a w-2

[LindseyP · Accepted solution]

Hello rruggles80423,

I understand your employer won't release your W-2. I would be happy to help you with that!

Employers had until January 31st to have all forms put into the mail. If it's past February 14 and you still don't have your W-2:

-Call the IRS for assistance at 800-829-1040. When calling, be ready to give the following information:

•     Your name, address and Social Security number.
•     Your employer's name, address, city, state, zip code and telephone number, even if your employer has gone out of business.
•     Dates of employment.
•     An estimate of the wages you earned and the federal income tax withheld. Your estimate should be based on your final pay stub of the year or earnings statement, if available.

The IRS will call the employer and advise to send you your W-2.

Hope this helps!
Thank you for choosing TurboTax, and have a great day!
-Lindsey

[robertsonwmr]

I am a seasonal worker because of where I live and have to work where a can get work to survive. However the employer I worked for was definitely not someone I would choose to work for if I had more choices. I've done work for him that I've never been paid for and so have others. I worked full time early tourist season into the Sept. beginning with piece work and soon after as a full time house keeper for his hotel. But he's stating that he doesn't have to have it unemployment insurance because he only has peace work in Neighbors will full time employers he's lying breaking law and people are suffering for it. And they get no unemployment for off-season he is not going to hand over his W-2s he has some other type of tax that he pays all at once. What do I do

[chiemfs]

I just called that number and the accounts department said they don't call employers and that if I wanted the IRS to send out my w2 it would be earliest mid May. My employers won't even answer me, let alone send it.

[jowong1]

I emailed my employer to ask for w2, got ignored obviously, call the IRS, they said they sent them a letter asking them to issue me a w2. But it would take 10days for the letter to get to the employer and they have 10days response. So by then it would be late march! My employer may ignore the IRS as well as the penalty is only $500 (or something like that) and it may not be enforced anyway....

[chiemfs]

What department did you eventually get through to that did this?

[brady500]

My previous employer ignores the request for my w-2.  The IRS will not call and even if they did she would ignore the call and letter.  How can I get my w-2??? This my right and by law have to file taxes.

[utopia83]

My employer wont email my w2 they ignore all calls and letters how can i file online?

[Teeteebuddy]

I have a different situation where I do NOT have a mailing address. Mail is NOT recieved at my physical address. And she is refusing to let me pick them up or even fax it to my email. What do i do?

[AmyC]

You may want to call the employer one more time and let them know that you have the information to report them. If they do not let you pick it up, you are headed straight to the IRS Taxpayer Assistance office and report them. They will then have to deal with the IRS investigating them and their procedures.

Call the IRS toll free at 800-829-1040 or make an appointment to visit an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC). The IRS will send your employer a letter requesting that they furnish you a Form W-2 within ten days. Please click on this IRS link for full instructions and information.

[Jeremyelstein]

Contact your senator’s office if the tax advocacy service gives you the runaround they gave me and tries to tell you checking ip on your return 5 months after filing is not in the scope of their operations. Senator Jim Inhoffe’s office kept on the irs tac for me daily in person so i didnt have to continue wasting hours a day on hold when my refund hadn’t arrived by august after filing feb 12 and gave me regular updates. Might disagree with the man’s political policies, but his staff is top notch and were pleasurable to work with...i can only imagine other Senators offer similar performance with how cut throat their industry is.

[ThomasM125]

If you can't get the W-2 form, you can prepare a form 4852 which is a substitute W-2 form that you can use to complete your tax return. Here is a link to IRS site that will explain how to complete it:

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-4852

[Tares411]

Hi, I just got off the phone with the IRS at this number. They can't actually file the complaint for you over the phone. You have to fill out Form 3949A on the irs.gov website and send it in. What they can do at the 1-800 number is tell you if the employer has filed with the IRS and then mail you either your W2 or in my case they are sending me information from my last paystub of my work with that employer so that I may calculate my own taxes with that information.

[JonJax00]

Can I sue my previous employer if they don’t want to give me my w2

[LeonardS]

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

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. 

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 the tax year. The estimate should be based on year-to-date information from your final pay stub or leave-and-earnings statement, if possible.  

File your return You still must file your tax return by July 15, 2020 or request an extension to file, even if you do not receive your Form W-2. If you have not received your Form W-2 by the due date and have completed steps 1 and 2, you may use Form 4852 Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Attach Form 4852 to the return, estimating income and withholding taxes as accurately as possible.  There may be a delay in any refund due while the information is verified.

This link has updates to federal and state filing requirements Federal Tax Updates (Last Update: 3/20/20)

[Edited 03/24/2020 | 11:14 am PDT]