Q1.
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What number is entered in the “Employer's Identification Number” box of Form W-2?
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A1.
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Enter the employer's nine digit identification number (EIN) 00-0000000 assigned by
the IRS to the employer for the business named on the W-2. Do not show your own Social
Security number.
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Q2.
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Is it mandatory to show the name sequence as first name, middle initial and last name
in the “Employee's Name” box of the W-2?
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A2.
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It is not mandatory; you may show the last name first. However, SSA prefers that employee
names be shown as they are shown on the Social Security Card (first name, middle initial,
and last name). In any case, show employee names in the same order throughout the
entire return for your employees.
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Q3.
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What entry, if any, should be made in “Control
Number” box of the W-2?
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A3.
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Employers may use this box to help identify individual Forms W-2 for their records.
They do not have to use this box.
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Q4.
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There are boxes on the W-2 that do not apply to my employees. Do I put in lines, zeroes, or asterisks?
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A4.
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No. If an item on a W-2 does not apply, then leave it blank.
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Q5.
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Do I include tips in the “Social Security Wages” box of the W-2?
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A5.
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No. Report Social Security tips in the “Social Security Tips” box and include Medicare tips in the “Medicare Wages and Tips” box. Include total wages and tips in the “Wages, Tips and Other Compensation” box.
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Q6.
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In money amount fields of the W-2, do I show dollar signs ($), commas (,) and decimals (.) ?
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A6.
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Do not use dollar signs or commas. The decimal point should appear and the money amount
should be shown as xxxx.xx in all cases. Cents must be shown; for even dollar amounts,
show cents as “.00”.
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Q7.
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How is the “Subtotal” box on the W-2 filled out?
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A7.
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If you are submitting 42 or more W-2's, show subtotal figures for every 41 individual
forms plus a subtotal for the final group of W-2's — even if the final group has less
than 41 W-2's. Show these subtotal figures on a “subtotal” W-2 that immediately follows the 41st W-2 (or last in a final group). In counting
the 41 total, include any voided forms in order with good forms (however be sure not
to include the money amount from void forms in the subtotal figures) and do not count
subtotal W-2's in the “Number of Statements Attached” box).
The following boxes must be completed on a “subtotal” W-2: “Subtotal;” “Employer's Name, Address and Zip Code;” “Allocated Tips;” “Advance EIC Payments;” “Federal Income Tax Withheld;” “Wages, Tips, Other Compensation;” “Social Security Wages;” “Social Security Tips;” “Medicare Wages and Tips;” “Medicare Tax Withheld;” “Non-Qualified Plan;” “Deferred Compensation;” and “Dependent Care”. If one or more of these items does not apply to any of your employees, leave it
blank.
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Q8.
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When do I use the “Void” box on W-2's?
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A8.
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Enter an “X” in the “Void”box whenever an error is made on the W-2. Then go on to the next blank W-2 form to
record the correct information for the employee. Erasures, line-throughs, over-writing,
or whiteout should never be used to correct W-2 entries. Do not count void W-2's in
the “Number of Statements Attached” box.
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Q9.
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Do I have to fill in the “Medicare Wages and Tips” box on Forms W-2 even if the amounts are the same as the “Social Security” amounts shown on the forms?
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A9.
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Yes. Social Security wages and Social Security tips must be shown separately from
the “Medicare Wages and Tips” box since both types of earnings must be accounted for on each employee's earnings
record.
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Q10.
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Can I submit both W-2's and W-2c's under one W-3?
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A10.
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No. There must be a W-3 for the original W-2's and a W-3c for the W-2c's. Be sure
the W-3c reflects only the totals for the related W-2c's.
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Q11.
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On Form W-3, what goes in the “Adjusted Total Social Security Wages and Tips” box?
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A11.
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Show the total of Social Security wages and tips you reported to IRS for the tax year on Forms 941, 942, or 943 tax returns. Do not include in this total any wage or tip
adjusted amounts for prior tax years.
If you filed corrections for the tax year being reported on Form 941c, use the corrected wage and tip amounts in calculating the totals shown
in this box. If the tax year total reported to IRS does not equal the total you are
reporting to SSA on Forms W-3 and W-2's, check your records and make any necessary
corrections.
If your W-3 and W-2 totals are correct and you reported too much in wages and tips
to IRS, you may want to file Forms 941 and 941c with IRS to obtain a refund of overpaid
taxes.
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Q12.
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Where on the W-2 can I showadditional information I want to give my employees?
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A12.
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Use the “other” box on the Form W-2.
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Q13.
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I changed my employer identifi-cation number (EIN) this year when I reorganized my business. Should I show both EIN's on my wage reports?
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A13.
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Show only the current EIN on the W-2. On the W-3 show the current EIN in the “employers identification number” box and the other EIN in the “other EIN used this year” box.
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Q14.
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Several employees of our company lost W-2's given them. What should I do?
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A14.
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You should give each employee a copy of their W-2 marked “REISSUED STATEMENT”. Do not file Copy “A” again with SSA. Submitting two Copy “A” forms could cause duplicate posting of dollar amounts to employees' Social Security
and tax records.
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Q15.
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The printer on our computer skipped a line when printing the W-2's and most of the
information is below the designated boxes. Can I send them in anyway or must I do them over?
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A15.
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The W-2's should be reprinted. They cannot be processed by optical scanner and imaging
equipment unless the information is printed within the designated boxes.
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Q16.
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I have employees who receivesick pay from a third party. They do not contribute to the plan. How are those payments reported?
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A16.
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The third party is considered the employer and must report the sick pay on Form W-2
for employees paid sick pay if the third party:
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Is paid an insurance premium and is not reimbursed on a cost-plus-fee basis; or
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Is designated as the employer for sick payments based upon an agreement; or
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Fails to do three things: (1) withhold the employees' share of Social Security and
Medicare taxes AND deposit them for IRS when due; (2) notify the employer of the sick
payments made and taxes withheld timely so the employer can file proper returns (e.g.
in time to file Form 941 tax returns quarterly with IRS); and (3) provide the employer
with information about sick payments made by January 15 of the following year to allow
time to prepare employee W-2's timely showing sick pay amounts.
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Sick pay is shown on W-2's as follows:
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Box 1 includes the amount of sick pay paid in the year.
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Box 2 includes the amount of any income tax withheld from the sick pay by the third
party payer.
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Box 3 includes the amount of sick pay for the year that is subject to Social Security
or Medicare tax (generally, payments made for the first six months period after work
stopped minus any amounts based upon the employee's own contributions and any amounts
paid as workmen's compensation).
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Box 4 includes the employee's share of Social Security tax withheld by the third party
payer.
More information on sick pay can be found in IRS Publication 952.
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Q17.
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Our pension is a 401K Plan. We know that to report an employee under the 401K Plan, we enter an “X” in the pension plan field box of the W-2. Is there a field to report the amount deducted
from the employee's salary under the plan?
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A17.
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Report this income in the deferred compensation box (Box 13). Enter the appropriate
code (“D” for a 401K Plan), followed by a single space and the amount. Because this is a “deferred” amount for income tax purposes, it should not be included in the wages, tips, or
other compensation field (Box 1). However, be sure to include these amounts in the
Social Security and Medicare wage fields on the W-2.
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Q18.
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As an employer we have provided dependent care benefits under a qualified plan in
excess of $5,000 to a few of our employees. How do we report this excess amount?
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A18.
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On the W-2 you give to your employees show the total amount of dependent care assistance
benefits provided by you in box 10 (Dependent Care Benefits). Any amount in excess
of the $5,000 limit ($2,500 if married but filing income tax returns separately) is
reported in boxes 1, 3 and 5 (Total wages, Social Security wages and Medicare wages).
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