The pervasiveness of the Internet in our daily lives makes things easier for everyone. Employers, for one, have some great new features coming their way.
Now, employers can send the Washington W-2 Form to their employees electronically. They can send the forms as a .PDF file via email, or post them on a website. If tax data is posted on a website, every employee must have a unique login and password to access it, so that privacy can be maintained.
To access online tax and wage information, the employee must sign a consent form. If an employee is averse to the idea of signing a consent form, it is the employer’s responsibility to provide him or her with a conventional paper W-2 Form. Similarly, if an employee requires multiple copies, he must be provided with them. But the employer’s responsibility does not end with the electronic posting the forms. The employees must be given the W-2 forms for the previous year before January 31.
The new system alleviates some problems, and creates some new ones. The occurrence of undelivered W-2 forms is mainly due to two reasons. One, the employee moves to a new location and forgets to furnish the office with his new address. Two, he provides the new address which is incorporated into some paperwork, but does not make it to payroll. The advent of the electronic system would overcome these problems.
If the .PDF forms or the passwords to the websites are being sent through emails, it does not work for former employees who might be using their new company emails. This problem can be countered with the use of personal emails. But there is always a possibility of having those changed as well.
Recently, the IRS has been a lot more particular about timely delivery of W-2 forms. According to their website, if an employee has not received the W-12 form by February 15, they should contact the Internal Revenue Service. They would contact the employer so that the employee can get the form.
