Some people dread getting it in the mail even more than bills ? the W-2 form.
The road map of taxes for an employee, the boxes, deductions and manipulations of the form can often seem daunting or overwhelming. A W-2 form, however, is the official record of the wages paid to an employee and the taxes withheld in a calendar year. This record is prepared by an employer for each employee, and any mistake made in filling out the form could ultimately come back to hurt a worker in one of the most sensitive spots ? the wallet.
“As [W-2s] come in the mail, some people just shove them in a drawer, only to resurrect them at the last minute when they file their taxes,” said Cameron Schmidt, an Intuit Small Business marketing director at Payroll Services, a national payroll provider. “It?s important that people overcome this [fear] and ensure that each box is correct.”
With so many boxes on the form that require exact numbers, it is important that they are filled in properly, especially those that specify wages and federal income taxes, Schmidt said. Inaccuracies could create a domino effect that might result in a filer overpaying taxes or not receiving a refund. Other boxes to double-check include Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld.
“These change all the time,” said Al Giovetti, the state director of the Maryland Society of Accountants. “We take a course every year about the documents that the Internal Revenue Service uses.”
If an employer has failed to mail out W-2s or a worker has yet to receive one, the IRS has set up several steps to help. It has a toll-free line, 800-829-1040, to report complaints about not receiving W-2s, and if an employer refuses to issue a fixed or updated W-2 when a mistake is found, workers have the option of reporting the problem to the IRS and filing a report at www.irs.gov.
“Your W-2 is really our blueprint for filling out your tax return,” Schmidt said. “Every part is critical to making sure you don?t end up owing more than you should.”
