The Internal Revenue Service today reminded employers and other businesses to file Tax Year 2022 Form W-2 and other wage statements by Jan. 31, 2023, to avoid penalties.
Employers must file Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement and Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements with the Social Security Administration by Jan. 31. Because employees’ Social Security and Medicare benefits are computed based on information on Form W-2, it’s important to prepare Form W-2 correctly and on time. Information on how to file can be found here.
The Jan. 31 deadline also applies to Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation filed with the IRS to report non-employee compensation to independent contractors. For more information on this and for other due dates, go here.
Automatic extensions of time to file W-2 forms are not available. The IRS will only grant extensions for very specific reasons, such as the death or serious illness of the person responsible for filing the form or a catastrophic event such as a fire or natural disaster that interrupted business operations. Details can be found in the general instructions on Form 8809, Application for Time to File Information Returns.
For more information, read the instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 and the Information Return Penalties page at IRS.gov.
Employers should verify or update employee information, such as names, addresses and Social Security numbers or Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers. They should also ensure their company’s account information is current and active with the Social Security Administration and order paper Forms W-2 if needed.
The filing date for Form W-2 and other wage statements allows the IRS to detect refund fraud more easily by verifying income that individuals report on their tax returns. Employers can help support this process and avoid penalties by filing forms on time and without errors.
The IRS recommends e-file as the quickest, most accurate and convenient way to file these forms. For more information on e-filing Forms W-2, employers can refer to Employer W-2 Filing Instructions & Information on the Social Security Administration’s website.
