Many taxpayers in Georgia look forward to receiving their annual W-2 form from their employer. The W-2 form — officially, the Internal Revenue Service’s Wage and Tax Statement — lists an employee’s wages for the year as well as some other key figures, including federal income tax withholding. In order to file taxes with the IRS – and, in many cases, receive their tax refunds — workers need the information from their W-2 from their employers.
However, human error sometimes gets in the way of the process. Employers are required to provide their employees with W-2 forms by the end of January, so that people can get started on their tax returns due two and a half months later. Sometimes employees lose those forms, or might inadvertently discard them, and this puts those employees under the gun to get a replacement form in time to file before April 15.
According to the IRS, employers may furnish a replacement W-2 and mark it as a reissued statement. The reissued form shouldn’t be filed with the SSA, the Social Security Administration.
If employees need a replacement W-2 from their employer, they should make the request in writing and include:
- The employee’s name and signature
- The address the form should be sent to
- The date the request was made
Employers who reissue a W-2 are entitled to charge a fee for creating and distributing the replacement form.
The more complicated the tax problems, the more important it is to seek experienced legal advice regarding those problems.