IRS Form W-2 Filing Instructions: A 2025 Guide for Payroll Payers

As an employer, filing Form W-2 with the SSA is one of the most important steps in your year-end reporting. And you have to always stay compliant with your reporting requirements. To do that, you need to follow the official W-2 instructions or Form W-2 filing instructions.

What Is Form W-2 & Why It Matters

Also called the “Annual Wage And Tax Statement” form, W-2s show how much an employee earned in wages, tips, and other compensation, along with the taxes withheld from their paycheck, in a single tax year.

As an employer, correcting Form W-2 can be done by following the official instructions. Your employees will need a copy of this form to complete their personal income tax return or Form 1040. At the same time, the IRS and SSA relies on it to verify reported income, for Social Security credits, and prevent any under-withholding issues.

Step-by-Step: Form W-2 Filing Instructions

Boxes a, c, d, e, f: Basic Information

• Box a requires the employee’s SSN exactly as it appears on their Social Security card.
• Box b is for your EIN or Employer Identification Number.
• Box c is the business name and address exactly as shown on employment tax forms.
• Box d is an optional box which you can use to assign control numbers to help keep track of employee W-2s.
• Box e and f is for your employee’s full name and address.

Box 1: Wages, Tips, Other Compensation

This box is for you to report the total taxable wages, tips, bonuses and other taxable compensation you paid to the employee during the year.

Box 2: Federal Income Tax Withheld

Report the amount if you withheld federal income tax from the employee’s paychecks for the year.

Box 3: Social Security Wages

This box is where you report total amount of wages subject to Social Security tax. For 2025, the amount should not exceed $176,100.

Box 4: Social Security Tax Withheld

Report the Social Security tax withheld from the employee’s pay in this box. For 2025, the max limit is $10,918.20 (&176,100 X 6.2%).

Box 5: Medicare wages and tips

Report wages subject to Medicare tax here. There is no max limit here.

Box 6: Medicare tax withheld

Report the Medicare tax withheld from the employee’s pay and include any additional Medicare Tax for higher earners.

Box 7: Social security tips

Tips the employee reported to you will go here. It will also go in Box 1.

Box 8: Allocated tips

This box is only for businesses in the food and beverage industry. Report tips allocated to employees here.

Box 10: Dependent care benefits

If you provided or reimbursed dependent care benefits for an employee, report the total here as long it doesn’t exceed $5,000.

Box 11: Nonqualified plans

Report distributions from nonqualified deferred compensation plans or certain 457(b) plans.

Box 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d: Code

Enter specific W-2 Box 12 codes to report specific items, such as retirement plan contributions, employer HSA contributions, adoption benefits, or stock options.

Box 13: Checkbox

Check the boxes here if it applies to the employee’s situation (statutory employee, third-party sick plan, or retirement plan)

Box 14: Other

This is the “catch-all” box to report additional details, including union dues, uniform payments, state disability insurance withheld, or educational assistance.

Box 15, 16, 17: State Filing

These boxes cover state filing information including state tax ID number, state, and total wages subject to state income tax.

Box 18, 19, 20: Local Wage

If your business is in a city or locality with its own income tax, you’ll need to report local wages, local tax withheld, and the name of the city or locality where the tax applies.

Note:For multi-state employees: Repeat Boxes 15–20 on another W-2 page if more than two states apply.

Who Files Form W-2 with the SSA?

The general Form W-2 filing instruction is that if you have even one employee and you paid them for their work in your business, you need to file. You also need to file W-2 for:

• Withholding any federal income, Social Security, or Medicare tax from their pay.
• Paying $600 or more in wages, even if no taxes were withheld.

Special Cases

However, there are some special cases for certain occupations and situations:

• Third-Party Sick Pay: Insurance companies or third-party administrators sometimes file W-2s to report sick pay given to employees.
• Household Employers: If you pay a nanny, caregiver, or household worker and withhold Social Security or Medicare tax, you may need to file a W-2.
• Agricultural Employers: Farm workers’ wages are reported on W-2 if you file Form 943.

Form W-2 Filing Deadline & Delivery Methods

The W-2 deadlines 2025 are all on the same day, January 31, meaning you must furnish W-2s to employees and file them with the SSA by this date.

Filing Type	Due Date
Furnish copies to employees	Jan 31
E-file W-2
Paper filing W-2

W-2 Delivery: How to E-File And Send Copies To Employees

Many businesses now choose to submit W-2 forms through the SSA Business Services Online W-2 portal. This method is quick and secure, but it has one major limitation. It only handles the filing with the SSA. It does not distribute W-2 copies to employees, meaning you still have to print and mail them yourself.

Using an IRS authorized e-file platform like Tax1099 to file W-2 forms is another option available. In addition to filing W-2s with the SSA and IRS, Tax1099 also makes it easy to send recipient copies directly to your employees.

We provide a secure eDelivery portal where employees can receive their W-2s electronically once they give consent. We even manage the process of requesting this consent from employees and tracking their responses.

W-2 Pre-Filing Checklist

• You need to collect an updated Form W-4 from each employee. This form contains all the essential information you’ll need to calculate withholding.
• Verifying names and SSNs using SSA’s Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) ensures that the employee’s details are correct and match SSA records.
• Always reconcile quarterly Forms 941 (or 944/943) to year-end wage totals to cross-checks wages and taxes reported each quarter with the yearly total.
• Don’t forget to report taxable fringe benefits (e.g., group-term life over $50,000) on your W-2 forms.
• Make sure you confirm the retirement plan and statutory employee status with the employee and report it on Box 13.

How to fix an error in your W-2 forms?

Mistake	Why it matters?	How to fix the mistake
Name and SSN do not match SSN records	The SSA will send a “No-Match” notice that triggers penalties for late W-2 and delays your employee’s social security credits.	Use either SSNVS or Tax1099 to verify and confirm employee name/SSN combinations. If the info is incorrect, file a Form W-2C to correct the name or SSN.
Using the wrong Box 12 code	Using an incorrect W-2 code in Box 12 can affect an employee’s benefits or taxable income calculations	March 2, 2026 File a Form W-2c which the employee can use to file their returns.
Under-reporting fringe benefits	This can result in payroll tax assessments and IRS audits for unpaid taxes on fringe benefits.	File Form 941-X to correct payroll taxes and adjust payroll by grossing up fringe benefits on the last payroll.
Missing retirement plan check	It can affect IRA contribution limits.	Correct the error by filing Form W-2c with an updated Box 13.

Real-Life Scenarios: What To Report On Form W-2?

1. If an employee receives $55,000 salary, out of which $2,500 defers into a 401(k), the salary is not reported on Box 1. However, 401(k) contributions are still subject to Social Security and Medicare tax, so the $2,500 is reported in Boxes 3 and 5. The deferred amount is reported with Code D in Box 12.

2. If an employee uses a company car for personal purposes, the value of the personal use ($800) must be added to the employee’s wages. You can add the $800 to Boxes 1, 3, and 5 as well as Box 14 (optional).

3. If an employee receives sick pay from an insurance company, the employee will receive two W-2 forms. One from the insurer and the other from the employee. To keep the IRS records in sync, the employer must check the “Third-party sick pay” box on Form W-3.

4. If an employee works in more than one state, the employer must report the wages separately for each state. And then report in on the W-2 form, by filling out Boxes 15–20 twice, once for each state.

5. If a former employee requests their W-2 early after termination, you are allowed to provide it. Even if furnished early to the employee, you must still file Copy A by January 31.

FAQ’s