What If I Don’t Have All My W2 Forms?
Most of the Americans do not have a basic knowledge about the tax return. To avoid any kind of tax-related issue, it is better to have some basic knowledge about the tax return.
It is required by the IRS employers to report wages and some information about the salary. And this procedure can be done via Form W-2. This form narrates the amount of your earning from the employer before and the amount of withholding tax that you have already paid.
In the case of working in multiple areas, you will be having multiple W-2 forms. And most importantly you need to include all your information from all your W-2 forms to the IRS. In case you forget to mail a copy of the W-2 form you do not need to panic and file an amendment. But you must be careful about including your income otherwise you will end up giving a small amount of penalty.
With the help of advanced technology, the IRS keeps all the records of the taxpayers who have not filed their tax returns even if you got a job very recently. So, you need to be careful about that.
Not Having All Your W-2 Forms?
Two possible things can happen in this case. Either some of your forms have been lost or you just never ever received any form.
If you discover that your W-2 form is missing then without wasting a single minute of time you should contact your employer as they have another copy of your W-2 form. But if you face any trouble while contacting your employer you can elaborate your issue directly to the IRS and their agents about your W-2 form. In that case, the IRS will directly go to your employer as a substitute for you.
But in case your employer is unavailable to the IRS you will still be able to file your tax return even in the absence of your W-2 form.
- File for extension should be done:
In this case, you can have six months to recover your W-2 form which is missing.
- Use Form 4852:
Or else, you have to use Form 4852 which is like a substitute of your W-2 form. This form can be used even after not receiving any w-2 forms from your employer.
What Happens If You Don’t File All Your W-2?
The information related to the W-2 form is reported to the IRS. And for that reason, every W-2 contains a number.
You need to co-operate with the IRS. Otherwise, you can be sent to jail as a punishment. In case you are not an employee but a contractor, you will be able to get 1099 which is known as “Miscellaneous Income”.
As it is mentioned before, you might get a serious punishment if the IRS feels that intentionally you have not filed your tax return. You need to elaborate on the details of your income and expenses on your tax return.
If your deadline gets over but still you haven’t filed your tax return you will have to pay a penalty. Also, to avoid penalties you should not hide any information about your income and expenses. Otherwise in each month 5% penalty should be given by you which can be up to 25%. You have to pay an accuracy-related penalty if you pay too little as:
- It means you have shown your negligence about the rules and regulations.
- You have considerably trivialized your income tax.
- You have failed to bring out a foreign financial asset.
If Federal Taxes Are Owed By You:
Your employer holds back the taxes from your pay and gives it to the IRS. In case you have filled out a W4 form eventually, you claim more allowances which leads to your employer under-withholding your taxes.
Similarly, you need to know the difference. In case you owe the IRS and haven’t filed your W-2 form, you will face a penalty. And if the deadline is gone you will have 3 years for filing an amended return.
If You Are Being Late To File A W-2?
If you want to keep a good relationship with the field of the tax return and do not want any trouble, you need to follow their rules and regulations accordingly.
If You File An Amendment Return?
In this case, you are requested to recalculate your total income, tax exemption, and also you are requested to report if there are any changes. Then you need to submit the corrected version of the form and you need to attach the copy of that W-2 form which has been missing. The processing time generally takes 10-12 weeks. So, you need to plan accordingly. If you do your filing via mail you will not be allowed to mail your amended return to the same address. So be careful about that.