Tax season is approaching, and as most employers know, it’s time to distribute Form W-2s to employees. If MarathonHR is your payroll provider, please rest assured that we’ve handled this task for you and W-2s are already in the mail to your employees. We always strive to distribute W-2s to our clients’ employees during the first week of January, if possible.
Advantages of Sending W-2s in Early January
Although the required distribution deadline for W-2s is January 31, we encourage employers to consider the importance and advantage of distributing W-2s to employees and filing W-2 forms early with the Social Security Administration.
If employees receive their W-2s prior to the January 31 deadline, they have time to notify their employers of inaccurate information and rectify any problems with a corrected W-2.
Employer Obligations for W-2s
In addition to being the deadline to distribute W-2s to employees, January 31 is the deadline for employers to report Form W-2 information to Social Security. Any changes or corrections needed after January 31 require that employers not only provide employees with a corrected W-2; they must also file a Form W-2C with Social Security noting the change in reported information.
If you’re a MarathonHR client and your employees haven’t received their W-2s by January 19, it is likely due to a change of address, and they should call our office to request a duplicate. They should also make sure that they’ve given you their most current and correct mailing address to avoid future delays and issues.