The new year brings cause for celebration- turning the page on the previous year, establishing new goals, and preparing for tax season. That’s right, if you were a full-time employee in 2018, you should have already received your Form W-2 indicating your taxable income and a bevy of other pertinent info for the year. If you worked as a contractor, you can likely expect to receive a 1099-MISC form, depending on your employment agreement (1099 vs. W-2).

What is the Form W-2?

Form W-2 is how your employer reports your taxable income. On it includes a host of information which can be confusing to the untrained eye. Some of the items included on the Form W-2 are withheld taxes for federal and state obligations.

Other items displayed include:

Payroll Taxes How much money was paid to the government by your employer on your behalf for Social Security (Old Age Survivors and Disability Insurance or OASDI) and Medicare Pre-Tax Benefits Money paid toward health insurance by your employer

Contributions made towards qualifying employer-sponsored retirement plans

Amounts received in dependent care benefits (flexible spending account)

I Can’t Find My Form W-2. Can I Still File My Taxes?

In short, no. You need the IRS Form W-2 to file your taxes because it contains information not found on your final pay stub for the year. Many employers will provide electronic W-2s that can be accessed in early January.

If you want to file before you receive it in the mail, you can try contacting your payroll or human resources departments and submitting a W-2 request.

How Much Money Do I Need to Make to Receive a W-2?

Every employer engaged in a trade or business who pays employees more than $600 in noncash payment for the year must file a Form W-2. This means you employer must submit this tax information to the IRS if it withheld:

income, Social Security, or Medicare taxes

income tax would have been withheld if the employee had claimed no more than one withholding allowance or had not claimed exemption from withholding on Form W-4

When Should I Get My Form W-2 for the 2018 Tax Year?

The IRS requires employers to provide their W-2s to the government and employees by January 31 or face penalties. The IRS defines provide as “get in the mail,” meaning you will likely have the document in your physical possession the first week of February.

If you haven’t received it or think you might have misplaced, get in contact with your employer’s payroll or human resources departments.

And if you quit your job before the end of the year OR DIE, you’ll still receive your W-2.

What Happens if My Employer Makes an Error?

Mistakes happen. If you find something amiss on your W-2, be sure to contact your employer to highlight the mistake and ask for a corrected W-2.

Fun fact: while it will take you longer to receive your corrected W-2, if the error involves a significant item like a dollar amount or your address, your employer might get fined.

What Are My Obligations?

As an employee, you must report all wages earned during the year on your tax return. As mentioned above, the minimum you must earn for receiving any type of income tax-related document is $600 in wages paid.

This means if you made $550 as a contractor working for Uber, the company is not required to provide you with documentation supporting this income. However, it is still your responsibility to claim all income, earned or unearned unless specifically excluded.

When you receive your W-2, you should have three copies: Copy B, C and 2. If you choose to mail in your tax return, you must Attach Copy B to your return.

You should also keep it with your other documents for three years from when you filed your return. You don’t want to get audited, but it helps to have this documentation if you do. You’ll want to be sure to keep Copy C with your tax documents as well.