A W-2, or Wage and Tax Statement, is an IRS form your employer issues each year showing the total wages they paid you and the taxes withheld — including federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare. Employers must furnish it by January 31, and you use the figures on it to file your income tax return.

What is a W-2 form used for?

You use your W-2 to file your federal and state income tax returns — it reports your taxable wages and the taxes already withheld, which determine whether you get a refund or owe more. It's also commonly used as proof of income when applying for a mortgage, loan, or apartment.

When should I receive my W-2?

Employers are required by the IRS to furnish your W-2 by January 31 for the prior tax year. If you haven't received it by mid-February, contact your employer first; if that fails, you can call the IRS, which will request it on your behalf and provide a substitute form (Form 4852) so you can still file.

What's the difference between a W-2 and a W-4?

You fill out a W-4 when you start a job to tell your employer how much tax to withhold from your pay. A W-2 is what your employer gives you after the year ends, reporting the wages you actually earned and the taxes withheld. The W-4 is an input; the W-2 is the year-end summary.

How do I get my W-2 if I lost it or never received one?

First ask your employer or payroll provider for a copy — many post W-2s in an online portal. If you can't get it, the IRS can provide a wage transcript through your online account or by mailing Form 4506-T. As a last resort you can file using Form 4852, estimating wages and withholding from your final pay stub.

What's the difference between a W-2 and a 1099?

A W-2 reports wages paid to an employee, with taxes already withheld by the employer. A 1099 (such as a 1099-NEC) reports payments to independent contractors or other non-employees, with no taxes withheld — meaning the recipient is responsible for paying their own income and self-employment taxes.

Tax

Form W-2

A Form W-2, or Wage and Tax Statement, is an IRS document your employer issues each year reporting your annual wages and the federal, state, and other taxes withheld from your pay. Employers must furnish it to every employee by January 31, and you use it to file your income tax return.

Employers must furnish Form W-2 to each employee and file it with the Social Security Administration by January 31 of the year following the wages paid.

Source: IRS — Topic no. 752, Filing Forms W-2 and W-3

Written & maintained by the Granite team · Last updated June 2026

Overview

Form W-2 is issued by an employer to every employee they paid wages to during the calendar year, and a copy is filed with the Social Security Administration (SSA), which then shares the data with the IRS. It reports gross wages, Social Security and Medicare wages, and the income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes withheld, along with employer and employee identifying information.

You receive a W-2 if you were an employee — distinct from a 1099-NEC, which reports income paid to independent contractors. If you worked multiple jobs in a year, you get a separate W-2 from each employer, and you need all of them to file an accurate federal and state return.

When you’ll get your Form W-2

You were an employee and earned wages from an employer during the tax year
You need to file your federal and state income tax returns and report your wages
You held more than one job and received a separate W-2 from each employer
You had taxes withheld from your paycheck and want to claim them or calculate a refund
You're applying for a mortgage, loan, or apartment and need to verify employment income
You're amending a prior-year return or responding to an IRS notice about reported wages

What’s on your Form W-2

These are the fields Granite reads and extracts automatically the moment you upload one.

Tax Year: The calendar year the wages and withholding apply to — the W-2 reports earnings for that single year.
Employer Name (Box c): The legal name of the employer that paid you and issued the form.
Employer EIN (Box b): The employer's nine-digit Employer Identification Number, formatted XX-XXXXXXX. Sensitive identifier the IRS uses to match the filing.
Employee Name (Box e): Your full legal name as it appears in the employer's payroll records.
Employee SSN (Box a): Your Social Security Number, formatted XXX-XX-XXXX. Highly sensitive — verify it's correct, since errors delay your refund.
Wages, Tips, Other Compensation (Box 1): Your total taxable wages for the year — the figure that flows onto your federal return as income.
Federal Income Tax Withheld (Box 2): The total federal income tax your employer already withheld from your paychecks and remitted to the IRS on your behalf.

How long to keep it

At least 4 years after you file the related tax return; keep through retirement if you're tracking Social Security earnings.

The IRS can generally audit a return for 3 years (6 if income was substantially underreported), so 4 years covers the assessment window. But your W-2s are also your personal proof of Social Security earnings — if the SSA's record is ever wrong, an old W-2 is the only way to correct your benefit calculation, which is why many people keep them far longer.

How Granite handles your Form W-2

Drop a W-2 into Granite and it's recognized as a Wage and Tax Statement on upload, pulling out the tax year, employer name and EIN, your wages (Box 1), and federal tax withheld (Box 2) — without exposing your SSN or EIN in any admin view. It auto-files the form into a "Tax {year}" collection alongside your 1099s and 1040, so every document for a filing year sits together. Search "2024 wages" or your employer's name and it surfaces instantly, even years later.

FAQ

Form W-2: common questions

What is a W-2 form?: A W-2, or Wage and Tax Statement, is an IRS form your employer issues each year showing the total wages they paid you and the taxes withheld — including federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare. Employers must furnish it by January 31, and you use the figures on it to file your income tax return.
What is a W-2 form used for?: You use your W-2 to file your federal and state income tax returns — it reports your taxable wages and the taxes already withheld, which determine whether you get a refund or owe more. It's also commonly used as proof of income when applying for a mortgage, loan, or apartment.
When should I receive my W-2?: Employers are required by the IRS to furnish your W-2 by January 31 for the prior tax year. If you haven't received it by mid-February, contact your employer first; if that fails, you can call the IRS, which will request it on your behalf and provide a substitute form (Form 4852) so you can still file.
What's the difference between a W-2 and a W-4?: You fill out a W-4 when you start a job to tell your employer how much tax to withhold from your pay. A W-2 is what your employer gives you after the year ends, reporting the wages you actually earned and the taxes withheld. The W-4 is an input; the W-2 is the year-end summary.
How do I get my W-2 if I lost it or never received one?: First ask your employer or payroll provider for a copy — many post W-2s in an online portal. If you can't get it, the IRS can provide a wage transcript through your online account or by mailing Form 4506-T. As a last resort you can file using Form 4852, estimating wages and withholding from your final pay stub.
What's the difference between a W-2 and a 1099?: A W-2 reports wages paid to an employee, with taxes already withheld by the employer. A 1099 (such as a 1099-NEC) reports payments to independent contractors or other non-employees, with no taxes withheld — meaning the recipient is responsible for paying their own income and self-employment taxes.

Sources

This page is checked against primary and authoritative sources:

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