Each employer has to report on regular basis the amount of money paid to his employees as well as the amount of taxes withheld to the IRS. Here Wage and Tax Statement form is useful. In this document an employer provides detailed information about how much money he/she paid to an employee and how much was taken for taxes. Note that such a form is always prepared by an employer, but not an employee. It is also vital to prepare a separate document for each employee.
In order to duly prepare a document, the following details have to be provided:
All the employers have to submit W-2 on time to avoid penalties. If you know that you can default the limits, submit a it as soon as possible.
According to regulations of the IRS, the filing due date for 2016 form W-2 is January 31, 2017 and 2017 W-2 is January 31, 2018. The new date is in effect for tax years beginning with the 2016 fiscal year. Such changes were made for the purpose to prevent tax fraud. The form have to provided to the employees before January so there is time to correct any mistakes before filing a document with the Social Security Administration. In some cases, the IRS can extend the filing date of a form. For this purpose you have to prepare a form IRS-8809 by January 31. Here you should furnish detailed explanation and reasons of your request for extension. The possible period of extension is up to 30 days. However, the filing of a request doesn’t guarantee the extension application.
The W-2 has to be provided to the employees on time and it has to contain all the requested information. After the employees check and approve the form, it is further forwarded to SSA. Before submitting, check if all the names, TINs and money amounts are correct. Note that an application has to be correct and accurate, otherwise you can be penalized. If the number of forms exceeds 250, you have an ability to file W-2 online in order to save your time.