Lost Your W-2? Here’s What To Do

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Whether you’ve got a tax obligation or are expecting a refund, you’ll need to file your taxes each year. To do this, you’ll need documents related to your income. In most cases, this will be a W-2 form, if you have income from an employer. However, if you lose this document, you may not be able to file your taxes.

The good news is that you can take a few simple steps to recover a lost W-2. There may also be a way to recover older W-2s or file taxes without your missing W-2s.

Here’s what you should know about each of these options.

What To Do If You’ve Lost Your W-2

Whether your W-2 was lost in the mail or misplaced at home, it can be challenging to complete your taxes without it, especially if you’re looking forward to a potential tax refund. While getting a duplicate of a W-2 is possible, it may take a little legwork. 

Here are the three main ways you can replace your W-2.

1. Contact your employer
2. Contact the IRS
3. Check your tax software

You might still be able to complete the rest of your taxes, including working with your tax advisor on deductions, capital gains tax or asking about the FICA tax rate. However, it would be best if you still planned to get a copy of your W-2. These steps will help you start the process of getting access to it.

1. Contact Your Employer

You can start by reaching out to your employer. They should have a record of your employment history, which may allow them to issue you a duplicate W-2 form. Even if you no longer work for the same company, your previous employer should be able to provide a W-2 for the time you worked there — especially if it was within the last 12 months.

Employers are legally required to distribute W-2s to their employees by January 31st. If your employer sends you a digital copy of your W-2, you’ll receive it no later than January 31. However, if your company is still distributing W-2s by mail, you may receive your form later, as you have to allow for mail delivery times. 

If it is past January 31 and you haven’t yet received your W-2, you can ask your employer how and when you can expect it. 

In some cases, your employer may give you access to an application or employee dashboard that contains documents relevant to your employment history. This often includes your W-2. If this is the case, you may be able to download the document or receive it via email, which may be the quickest way to receive your W-2.

2. Contact the IRS

If your employer can’t help, your second option is to contact the IRS. You can use the agency’s “Get Your Tax Record” webpage to find any federal tax information your employer has submitted to the IRS, including your income, federal withholding and even your original W-2.

“One easy way to deal with this is to obtain your wage and income transcript from the IRS. This transcript will show the income and federal withholding taxes that were reported on the W-2. However, do keep in mind that the transcript will not show state withholding taxes,” says Gary Massey, a CPA in the Atlanta area.

You can also call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. The agency will send your employer a letter requesting that they provide you with your W-2 within 10 days. You’ll need to have some information handy to verify you are who you say you are during your call, including your:

• Personal information: Name, address, phone number and Social Security number.
• Employer information: Your employer’s name, address and phone number.
• Employment information: The dates you worked for the employer, an estimate of your wages and federal income tax withheld last year, and the last pay stub of the tax year. Even if you know your tax bracket and the exact dollar amount you made, having the documentation will make the process much more streamlined.

Be aware that even if the IRS contacts them, your employer may still not send the W-2 in time for the tax deadline. If you won’t have your W-2 in time, make sure you file for an extension.

3. Check Your Tax Software

Finally, if you use self-prepared tax software, such as Intuit’s TurboTax, you may have previously uploaded the W-2 to your account. If so, it could be saved and still accessible via your online dashboard. For this option to work, you need to have uploaded or imported your W-2 to the software at some point in the past.

Filing Your Taxes Without a W-2

If you still can’t find your W-2, then you have two additional options available to you. The first is to use IRS Form 4852 to file your taxes without a W-2. This lets you share your income and tax information with the IRS even when you can’t find the original W-2 for the income.

You may able to use the information from your last pay stub to complete this form. “If you lost your W-2 and are unable to get a copy from your employer, you can file your taxes using your last pay stub for the year from that job. The information on the paystub is what ultimately gets reported on the W-2 at the end of the year, ” says Roxanne Hendrix, a CPA and tax expert with JustAnswer.

The second option you have is to apply for an extension to file your taxes. Although tax returns are due on Apr. 15, 2025, you can delay your filing deadline until October 15th, 2025, by using Form 4868. 

Just keep in mind that this option only gives you an extension on filing your tax forms — not making your tax payments. You’ll still need to estimate your tax liability and pay the amount due on time.

What To Do for a W-2 Received After Filing Your Tax Return

If you estimated your income incorrectly and filed your return based on that information, you’ll need to correct the return. Amend your return using Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.

Filing an amended return could impact your refund or even require additional payment of taxes owed. It can also take up to 16 weeks for your amended return to be processed.

How To Obtain a W-2 for a Previous Year

If you’re looking for a W-2 issued by your current employer for a prior year, your employer may be able to provide you with a duplicate copy or access to download it electronically.

Some employers use payroll software or third-party payroll companies that allow employees to access payroll information from a secure web portal. Tax documents, including W-2s, are often saved on such sites throughout your tenure, and you may be able to access your W-2 online. 

If you are looking for a W-2 from a previous year for an employer you are no longer employed with, getting a duplicate can be tricky. Most companies only keep tax records for a few years, so they may no longer have the W-2 you’re looking for. 

Contact the IRS

For previous tax years, you can also request a transcript copy from the IRS. However, you must have filed your taxes for that tax year.

The IRS won’t be able to issue an exact copy of your W-2, but it can provide a wage and income transcript. This transcript will contain the federal tax information your employer reported to the Social Security Administration for the corresponding year. Transcripts are available for up to ten years prior. Allow ten business days from the day the IRS receives your request to get a copy of the transcript.

Contact the Social Security Administration

You get copies or printouts of your W-2 for any year from 1978 to the present. The copies are free if you need them for a Social Security-related reason. However, there is a fee of $62 per request if you need them for an unrelated reason.

Final Take on Lost W-2s

Losing a W-2 form isn’t the end of the world. You can get a replacement by reaching out to your employer, contacting the IRS, or accessing the saved documents in your tax preparation software. If all else fails, you can also request a tax deadline extension or submit Form 4852 to file taxes without a W-2.

Aja McClanahan, Caitlyn Moorhead and Sabah Karimi contributed to the reporting for this article.

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