Technology is always improving. Many banks and credit card companies are offering paperless statements, and companies are always looking for ways to use technology to save money. One of the ways that companies can save money is by using electronic forms for their necessary documents instead of printing on paper.
Employers are now able to send out the North Dakota W-2 forms electronically. That is good news, especially for smaller businesses that handle payroll and tax documentation in house. Printing out W-2 forms for each employee can be a significant cost for some businesses. Companies that take over payroll responsibilities can especially benefit for this allowance. Although this may alleviate some cost by saving paper and postage, it won’t eliminate it completely. All employees are entitled to hard copies of their form, if they don’t feel comfortable receiving it online. To insure that an employee is comfortable with having their form emailed, they must sign a consent form.
By January 31, the previous year’s W-2 should be in the hands of all employees. With the ability to send either a PDF form or post W-2s on a secure website, this deadline should be easy to reach for most. The IRS wants any employee who does not receive their W-2 form by February 15th to contact them and fill them in on their employer’s information. They are serious about making sure the forms are distributed on time.
Another benefit to the electronic distribution of North Dakota W-2 forms is the speed. When the form is sent to an email address or is posted on a website for access, it is instantly available. The only issue that could arise is a returned message for an invalid address, or a spam filter deleting the message. No system can ever be perfect, I suppose.
