- If your employer has not sent you your W-2 forms, you have several options. You may request an extension of time to file your tax returns based on your employer's refusal to provide you with a timely wage statement. To request an extension, you must submit a Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time, and the IRS will typically grant you with an automatic six-month extension to file your returns if you pay your estimated tax liabilities. Since your estimated tax liabilities depend on your W-2 statements, you can use your last paycheck stub to estimate the taxes that your employer withheld on your behalf, and you can pay your income tax liabilities based on that amount.
- If you have not received your W-2 by January 31, the IRS recommends that you contact your employer and request the W-2. If you have not received your W-2 from your employer within two weeks after the W-2 was due, or by February 14, you can contact the IRS. The IRS provides a toll-free phone number for taxpayers to report late W-2 filings.
- Once you provide the IRS with your contact information and your employer's contact information, the IRS will contact your employer on your behalf. Furthermore, the IRS will use your contact information to send you a Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2. You may use that form to file your tax returns by the filing deadline. If your employer makes changes to his W-2, then you will need to file an amended IRS Form 1040X tax return.
- The IRS assesses late filing penalties under Section 6721 of the Internal Revenue Code against employers who fail to file their tax returns by the annual filing deadlines. Unless business owners can show reasonable cause for failing to file timely tax forms, the IRS can impose civil late filing penalties for each day exceeding 30 days. Business owners are subject to late filing penalties if their employees or the Social Security Administration does not receive their tax forms within 30 days from when they were originally due. The IRS can assess a maximum penalty of $1.5 million per year for larger businesses and $500,000 against smaller companies.
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