Wage and Tax Statement - Form W-2

Employers must file Form W-2 for every employee they paid more than $600 in wages, tips, and other compensation, and from whom they withheld income, social security, or Medicare tax, or would have if not for withholding allowances and exemptions.

Employees will also receive a copy of their W-2, which shows much they were paid and how much tax was withheld from their paychecks. If you earned more than $600 from multiple employers during the year expect more than one W-2.

Employers must file W-2s for the previous tax year by February 28. Larger employers can e-file their W-2s, pushing the deadline back to April 1.

Whatever their deadline to file, however, employers must send W-2s to their employees by January 31 because employees need the information contained on their W-2s in order to complete their tax returns.