How Can You Get Form W-2 Online for Free?
As tax season comes around every year, you’ll use your W-2 to determine how much taxes you owe as you’ll need to enter the information displayed from it.
An online W-2 form generator can be very beneficial for a company and individual employees. For starters, putting all this information online is easy and makes it accessible. You and your employees can share the information and you can see the income information from the workers in your company.
Generating the forms online also ensures that they do not get lost. Paper forms are harder to keep track of and employees may lose them from time to time. Having them online also allows the employees to be able to access them all the time and refer back to them when needed.
So, how can you get your form w-2 online for free? Let’s keep reading!
W-2 Form: An Overview
Here is all the information you need to know about W-2 forms and how to use them when it comes to filing taxes.
What is a W-2 Form?
A W-2 form is given to all employees of a company to show their income, the taxes withheld from their paychecks, and their benefits from the year. The IRS uses these forms to determine your wages and then applicable taxes depending on your income.
It also shows health insurance, dependent care assistance, and other contributions you might give or receive. You will receive a W-2 form every time you work.
Benefits of a W-2 Form
All employees need a W-2 form because they will need to enter the information it has when they are filing their taxes. If you do not receive this form, you will not be able to file your taxes because you will not have all the necessary information.
Your benefits are also listed on the form so you know how much you are contributing and receiving from health insurance plans and other state programs when applicable.
How to create a W-2 form?
There are several things you need to know before creating a W-2 form. You need to make sure they are done accurately so your employees do not have any issues when it comes to taxes.
Choose Your Filing Format
Choose whether you want to file online or if you want to mail in the form. The forms will look a little different depending on which one you choose but they have the same information.
Gather Employee Wage Information
Next, you need to get all the information about your employees’ wages including tips and all forms of compensation. You need to total all the money they earn and enter it into the right line.
Enter Data Into Each Form
The form will have certain areas and lines where you have to enter tax information or whatever is asked for. Make sure you enter the right data and do not leave lines blank unless they do not apply to you.
Review & Utilize
Before submitting it, make sure to review it and ensure everything is correct. Then you can submit it online or you can print it to file it through the mail.
Nice to Know: How to Calculate W-2 Wages from Pay Stub?
Documents required to generate a W-2 Form
There are many documents you need to make sure you can generate an accurate W-2 form including:
- The name of your business, the address, and your state Tax ID number
- The names of your employees, their addresses, and their social security numbers
- The employee’s total wages, social security, contributions mad benefits
Tips To Read the W-2 Form
Make sure you read each line before filling in the information. Under the income section, list total wages including all compensation like tips, Medicare, and Social Security tips.
Under withholdings, you can put the amount of taxes your employee has paid whether it be federal income, Medicare tax, or taxes from Social Security.
There are several other boxes to look at but they do not all need to be filled in. Some employees will need to have extra boxes filled in depending on their unique situation. We provide tips on our W-2 form generator to help you know which ones to fill in.
Free W-2 Form Generator
Creating and downloading W-2 forms is important and easy to do with free w2 generators.
Keep in mind you cannot use fake information when making W-2 forms as the IRS compares data and will know if the information reported is not correct.
Need to Know: How to Spot Fake W2?
How Do You Find Your Form W2 Online For Free?
You can get your Form W-2 from the IRS.
You can get a free wage and income transcript online from the IRS website. This transcript contains the federal tax information from your W-2. To get the transcript, you can:
- Visit the IRS "Get Your Tax Record" page.
- Use Form 4506-T and select the box for Form W-2.
However, if you need an actual copy of your W-2, you can only get it online for free if your employer offers an online portal for employees to access their tax documents. Otherwise, you'll need to request it directly from your employer or the Social Security Administration.
Kristen Larson is a payroll specialist with over 10 years of experience in the field. She received her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota. Kristen has dedicated her career to helping organizations effectively manage their payroll processes with Real Check Stubs.
