W-2 Form Guides

Making Sense of Your W-2

Form W-2, the Wage and Tax Statement, is the annual summary of what an employer paid you and what it withheld. Employers generally must furnish it by January 31, or the next business day when that date falls on a weekend or legal holiday. They also file a copy with the Social Security Administration, which is why an error on a W-2 affects more than just your tax return.

The guides in this category explain each box, how to get a copy when the form has not arrived and how to fix a W-2 that is wrong. The amounts in the withholding boxes come from the federal and state withholding rules covered in our tax guides. If part of your income was paid as a contractor, our guides on contractor income reported on Form 1099 explain how that income is reported instead.