I hope your North Carolina W-2 form got to you in time. W-2 forms for 2006 must be given to each employee by January 31, 2007, according to the IRS. The W-2 form can be mailed, handed out personally with a weekly check, or even sent through email. A hard copy of the W-2 must be provided to anyone who does not consent to receive his or her form through email. The file format must also be PDF, portable document file.
What happens if you don’t get your form? Well, when it comes to tax time you will have more paperwork, for one thing. There are two extra forms to fill out that explain the information about your employee who failed to provide it to you, and the reason why you didn’t get your W-2. The IRS is not playing games with those forms anymore, if they ever did.
Since 2004, they are absolutely required when filing your tax returns. Before that, it was acceptable for the final pay stub of the year to be sent in as a record. I am afraid that is no longer acceptable. Even though the final pay stub from the year will show the total income and withholdings from a single employer for the entire year, the IRS wants that W-2.
If you are a small business owner, payroll can be a hassle at any time of the year. Many people outsource the responsibility because of the time it takes to produce and maintain accurate payroll records. While this is true, often small or newly established businesses can’t afford to outsource and owners or managers are burdened with the task. It is a good idea to keep running records throughout the year, and begin preparing W-2 forms ahead of time, to avoid a missed deadline for these legal documents.
