Report each employee's wages for the year.
After the calendar year ends, every employer gives each employee a Form W-2 showing what they earned and what was withheld, and sends the same information to the Social Security Administration with a Form W-3 that summarizes them all. It is due by the end of January, to the government and to your workers on the same day. We prepare the full set and file the W-3 transmittal for you.
The year-end summary of every paycheck.
Form W-2 is the Wage and Tax Statement. Where the quarterly Form 941 reports your payroll to the IRS during the year, the W-2 is the annual, per-employee summary: for each person you employed, it shows total wages and the federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare you withheld from their pay. You give a copy to the employee so they can file their own return, and you send the government its copy. One detail surprises many new employers: the W-2 goes to the Social Security Administration, not the IRS, and it travels with a Form W-3, a single transmittal that totals all the W-2s you are filing. Anyone who files a W-2 must file a W-3 with it.
A W-2 for each employee, plus one W-3 that totals them.
The filing has two parts that move together: the individual wage statements and the single transmittal that summarizes them for the government.
- Form W-2, one per employee. Total wages and the federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare withheld, with the copies each employee needs for their own return.
- Form W-3, the transmittal. A single summary that totals all your W-2s and carries them to the Social Security Administration.
- Employee, government, and state copies. The right copy routed to each place it has to go, including your state where a state copy is required.
- A filed-and-confirmed record. Confirmation that the set was accepted, kept with your books in case a figure is ever questioned.
For employees, not for contractors.
The line between a W-2 and a 1099 is the line between an employee and an independent contractor. Getting it right matters, because the two are filed differently and taxed differently.
- Anyone you employed during the year and withheld tax from, full-time or part-time
- Employees you paid, even if they left before year-end
- Household employees over the reporting threshold, such as a nanny, in some cases
- Corporate officers who take a salary from their own company
- Independent contractors and freelancers, who get a Form 1099-NEC instead
- Owners of a sole proprietorship or partnership, who are not employees of it
- Vendors and service firms you hire but do not employ
- People you paid personally, outside of running a business
Not sure whether a worker is an employee or a contractor? It turns on control over how the work is done, not on job title. Compare W-2 and 1099-NEC →
One deadline, to two places at once.
These figures are verified against the current General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3. The unusual part of the W-2 is that the government copy and the employee copy are due on the same late-January date, so there is no quiet grace period to finish the employee copies afterward.
Penalty amounts are inflation-adjusted each year by the IRS. We check the current figures before every filing season.
From payroll totals to a filed set.
- 1Gather each employee's totals
We pull annual wages and the tax withheld for every person you employed, straight from your payroll records.
- 2Build the W-2 set and the W-3
One W-2 per employee, plus the W-3 that totals them, checked against your 941s so the numbers reconcile.
- 3File with the SSA and deliver copies
We transmit the W-3 and W-2s to the Social Security Administration and get each employee their copy by the January deadline.
- 4Confirm and keep the record
You receive confirmation the set was accepted, filed with your books for the year.
The numbers have to match everywhere.
Your W-2 totals must line up with the four 941s you filed during the year and with what the SSA and IRS already have. A mismatch draws a notice. We reconcile before we file.
We check the annual W-2 totals against the quarterly payroll returns you already filed, so the two agree.
The set goes to the Social Security Administration, with state copies where your state requires them.
We flag your due date early and deliver both government and employee copies on time.
You see the price per employee before you file, with no surprise add-ons. See pricing →
The rest of your payroll year.
The quarterly return that reports the same withholding during the year.
Explore → Once a yearForm 940Your annual federal unemployment tax, an employer-only filing.
Explore → For contractorsForm 1099-NECThe statement for the nonemployees you paid, not the employees.
Explore → Never miss a dateCompliance calendarEvery payroll and tax deadline for your business in one place.
Explore →Form W-2, answered.
What is the difference between the W-2 and the W-3?
The W-2 is the individual statement for one employee. The W-3 is a single transmittal that totals all of your W-2s and carries them to the Social Security Administration. You file one W-3 no matter how many W-2s you have, and anyone filing a W-2 must file the W-3 with it.
Does the W-2 go to the IRS or the SSA?
The W-2 and W-3 are filed with the Social Security Administration, which shares the wage information with the IRS. This is different from most other federal forms, which go directly to the IRS, such as the quarterly Form 941 and annual Form 940.
When is Form W-2 due?
January 31, both to the Social Security Administration and to each employee. When the 31st lands on a weekend, the deadline moves to the next business day. There is no automatic extension.
Do I have to file electronically?
If you file 10 or more information returns of all types combined during the year, counting W-2s together with any 1099-NEC forms and other returns, you generally must file electronically. We e-file for you either way. Not sure whether a worker is an employee or a contractor? Compare W-2 and 1099-NEC.
What if a W-2 has a mistake?
A corrected wage statement is filed on Form W-2c, with a Form W-3c transmittal. Fixing an error quickly keeps any penalty in the lowest tier, so it is worth correcting as soon as you notice it.