It is your responsibility, as an employer, to file Copy A of Form W-2 (PDF), Wage and Tax Statement, with the Social Security Administration (SSA) for your employees, showing
the wages paid and taxes withheld for the year. Since Form W–2 is
the only document used to transmit information on your employees' social security
and Medicare wages for the year, it is very important to prepare the forms
correctly and timely.
There are separate instructions for Form W-2 and W-3.
Use Form W-3 (PDF), Transmittal
of Wage and Tax Statements, as a cover sheet when filing one or more Forms
W–2 with the SSA. Be sure to order Form W-3 when you order
your W–2 forms. If you have questions about a particular box
on Forms W-2 or W-3, refer to the instructions, which give a detailed
explanation of each box. Here are a few important items to keep in mind when
preparing Form W–2:
- Type all entries using black ink and, if possible, a 12–point Courier
font.
- Do not use dollar signs or commas, but do use decimal points followed
by cents (or zeroes for no cents).
- Please do not make any erasures, cross–outs, or white–outs.
Copy A, which is the first page, must be error free. If you make an error
on a form, put an "X" in the "Void" box, go to the next Form W–2 and
start again. Do not mark the next Form W–2 as
corrected.
- Form W–2 is printed with two forms on a page. Send in the
whole Copy A page (the page printed with red ink) even if one form is blank
or void. Do not cut or fold the page nor staple Forms W–2 to
each other or to Form W–3.
The official Form W–2 comes in 6 copies. Copy A must be
sent to the Social Security Administration with the transmittal Form W–3 by
March 1, 2004. Form W–3 is used to transmit the Forms W–2 and
contains figures reflecting the box totals of all the Forms W–2 being
sent. The address for mailing Copy A of the Forms W–2 and/or W–3 is
listed in the separate Instructions for Forms W–2 and W–3.
Keep Copy D of Form W–2 for your own records. Send Copy
1 to your state tax department. Contact that department for requirements and
transmittal information. You must give the remaining copies of Form W-2 to
the employee by January 31, 2004. If an employee stops working for you before
the end of the year, you may give him or her (your former employee) Form
W–2 anytime prior to January 31, 2004, unless he asks for the Form
W–2 prior to the end of the year. If the employee asks for the Form
W–2, you must give Copy B, Copy C, and Copy 2 to the employee within
30 days of the request, or within 30 days of the final wage payment, whichever
is later.
The totals for amounts reported on the related forms, that is on Form 941 (PDF), Form 943 (PDF),
or Schedule H of Form 1040 (PDF) for the year
should equal those same totals reported on your Form W–2. If
the totals do not agree, you should generally make corrections. If you discover
an error on an employee's Form W–2 after sending it to the
Social Security Administration, you should submit a Form W–2c, Corrected
Wage and Tax Statement. You must submit a transmittal Form W–3c with
any Forms W–2c.
All employers may file Form W–2 on magnetic media or electronically.
However, employers filing 250 or more Forms W–2 must file using
magnetic media (or file electronically) unless granted a waiver by the IRS.
For more information on magnetic media or electronic filing, refer to Topic 801, Topic 802, Topic 803, Topic 804, and Topic 805. Additionally, by using a personal computer and a modem, you may
obtain additional information on magnetic media or electronic filing of Forms
W–2 from the SSA's Business Services Online (BSO). You can access
BSO by dialing (888) 772–2970. You can also get magnetic media (or electronic)
specifications by contacting the SSA's Employee Reporting Branch at 1–800–772–6270.
You may also want to refer to Publication 15, Circular E, Employer's
Tax Guide, Publication 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide,
and Publication 393 (PDF), Federal Employment Tax Forms.
