What Are The Penalties To Employers For Not Sending W2s?

Are you a W-2 employee in dire need of your W2 form, but your employer refuses to account for the wages and tax statement form (W2s)? 

There is no need to panic because if your company fails to email your W2 form before the well-known deadline, January 31st, they will be penalized on your behalf.  

So what are the penalties to employers for not sending W2s?

Why Is It Very Important To Have Access To Your W2 Form?

Employees use the information on their wages and tax statement form to file the return of their personal income tax. 

The W2 Internal Revenue Service form holds very important information about an employee and is used to track an employee’s tax obligations. Employees also use them to prepare their state and federal tax returns. 

The W2 state and federal tax document shows the summed-up amount of taxes held back from an employee’s paycheck for the previous and current working year(s).

Here Is A Summary Of The Extensive Details A W-2 Form Encompasses

• First Box Has The Zip Code, Identification Number, The Identification Number Of Employer, Name Of Employee, and Employee Address.
• Second Box Has The First Name Of the Employee, Middle Name, and Last Name.
• Third Box Has The Employees Wages, His/Her Compensations, and Federal/State Income Withheld Taxes.
• Fourth Box Contains The Employee Social Security Wages and Social Security Tax Held Back.
• Fifth Box Contains The Medical Care Wages, Tips, and Medical Care Tax Withheld
• Sixth Box Has The Employee Social Security Tips
• Seventh Box Has Information On The Allocated Tips
• Eight Box Contains All The Employee Dependent Care Perks
• Ninth Box Has The Employee Retirement Perks
• Tenth Box States The Employer’s State ID Number
• Eleventh Box Comprises Of The State Wages, Tips, and State Income Taxes
• Twelfth Box Entails The Local Wages, Tips, and Local Income Taxes Of The Employee. 
• Thirteenth Box Has The Locality Name Of The Employee. 

The W2 form has a lot of important information on it; for this reason and lots more, an employee needs to be provided his/her duplicate copy each year before the filing deadline.

Understanding W2 Deadlines And Extensions

On January 31st, W2 forms must be submitted by an employer to the internal state revenue and the employee.

In some cases, the employer may find it impossible to meet up with the deadline date; he is permitted to make a deadline extension request by providing a written statement to the IRS giving valid reasons as to why he will not be able to meet up with his payroll employee’s W2 filing deadline January 31st. 

The employer should also keep in mind that it is not obligatory that the internal state revenue grants his request.

The Internal Revenue Service requires Form W2 copy “A” on January 31st, alongside the W3 form before or on February 28th of each year. 

If the employer decides to provide his employee’s wages and tax statement form through e-file or through electronic transmission, the deadline would be extended to the Second Of April (April 2nd).

Failure of the employer to file the W2 form, disregarding the ultimatums given, can render the employee no choice but to penalize or fine the employer for not sending W2s. 

Penalties For Late Filing Of Form W2s

In most W2 late filing cases, the employee penalizes by fining the company or the employer. 

The fining penalty depends on the duration of delay of the W2s, the size of the business, and incorrect information on the employee’s W2 form.

The duration of delay could be months/weeks/hours/days. The size of the business could be large or small etc. 

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Late Filing Of W2s For Small Businesses: 

• Failure to provide W2s up to 30 days late would incur $50 charges (Having A Limitation Of $194,500) for every information return/statement of the payee.
• Failure to provide W2s up to 31 days late of the due date through August 1st would incur a $110 charge (Having A Limitation Of $556,500) per payee statement/information return.
• W2s filed after August 1st or W2s not filed at all would incur a fine of $290 (Limited To $1,113,000) for every information return / every employee statement. 
• If a company Intentionally disregards the W2 filing deadline issued by the internal state revenue, it would attract a fine of $580 per return of information/employee statement.

Late Filing Of W2s For Large Businesses: 

• Failure to provide W2s not more than 30 days late would incur $50 charges (Having A Limitation Of $556,500) for every information return/statement of the payee.
• Failure to provide W2s up to 31 days late of the due date through August 1st would incur a $110 charge (Having A Limitation Of $1,669,500) per payee statement/information return.
• W2s filed after August 1st or W2s not filed at all would incur a fine of $290 (Limited To $3,333,900) for every information return / every employee statement. 
• If a company Intentionally disregards the W2 filing deadline issued by the internal state revenue, it would attract a fine of $500 for every return of information/employee statement. 

W2 Statement Penalty Due To Incorrect Information:

An employee could go through his/her W2 form provided by the employer or the payroll company and come across some misguided information on the form.

Granted, he/she refuses to take such misconduct likely, and we presume he/she has the right to penalize the payroll company or the employer for failing to file the right information returns.

Some common errors that can attract penalization include; 

• Providing an incorrect taxpayer identification number (TIN).
• Disregarding the compulsory request for electronic filings and providing W2 paper filings.
• Incorrect Information On The Zip Code, Employee Identification Number, Name Of Employee, And Employee Address.

Additional Late W2 Filing Penalties

In addition to late filing, you can be assessed penalties if you file impersonation firms, incomplete forms, or if the forms you file are illegible. 

If you must file 300 or more W2s, the internal revenue service will permit you to use the electronic filing process; if you have been given this permission, sending W2 paper files instead could result in gruesome penalty charges. 

Conclusion 

Federal and State laws require that it is the responsibility of the employer to provide W2s to their payroll W2 employees by filing it electronically or by mail with the social security administration before the January 31st deadline, and the law also states that there will be penalties for not sending out the W2s.

Avoidance of penalty can only be possible if you prove that your failure to follow instructions and file before the deadline was a result of circumstances beyond your jurisdiction and prove that you did not neglect it purposely.

So what are the penalties to employers for not sending W2s? We hope this article has answered that and also enlightened you more on its importance.