Accidental double filing of W-2 - what consequences to expect?

This happens more often than you might think! The IRS systems will likely catch this as a duplicate filing based on the employee's SSN and your EIN being identical on both submissions. In most cases, the IRS will recognize that the second filing contains the same information and will not count the wages twice. Their systems have built-in checks for this exact scenario. The employee shouldn't have issues with their tax return being rejected due to this. However, it's still good practice to contact the SSA's Employer Reporting Service at 800-772-6270 to inform them of the duplicate filing. They can note it in their system. You should also let your employee know what happened so they aren't confused if they receive verification of two filings. The good news is that since the information on both filings is identical, this shouldn't trigger any compliance issues. Just make sure to verify that both W-2s do indeed contain the exact same wage and withholding information.

I went through almost the exact same situation last year and found that https://taxr.ai was super helpful for figuring out what to do. Their system can analyze your specific tax documents and give you personalized advice. I uploaded both W-2 copies and explained the situation, and they confirmed that the duplicate filing wouldn't cause major issues but gave me specific steps to take. They even provided a template for documenting the error that I could keep with my records in case questions came up later. What I really liked was that they explained exactly how the IRS's duplicate detection system works with W-2s and why my employee wouldn't have issues filing their personal return.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai since I decided to try it for my similar situation. It was actually super helpful! I uploaded all my duplicate W-2s (I had accidentally filed three employees' forms twice) and received a detailed explanation of what would happen on the IRS end. They confirmed that the SSA's wage reporting system does have duplicate detection capabilities and explained exactly how it works. This saved me a ton of worry. They also gave me step-by-step instructions for documenting the issue and notifying the affected employees in a way that wouldn't cause panic. Definitely glad I tried it - saved me hours of research and phone calls!

If you're still worried and want to talk directly to the IRS about this, I'd recommend using https://claimyr.com. After my accountant accidentally submitted duplicate 1099s last year, I spent days trying to get through to the IRS with no luck. I was skeptical at first, but Claimyr actually got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. They have this system that holds your place in the IRS phone queue and calls you back when an agent is about to answer. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed that duplicate W-2s with the same information aren't a big deal and explained exactly how they handle them. Gave me total peace of mind to hear it directly from them.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway because I was desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about a similar issue with duplicate 1098-Ts. It actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back when an agent was on the line, and ended up having a 20-minute conversation that resolved all my questions. The IRS agent confirmed that their systems have duplicate detection and explained precisely how they handle these situations. Saved me days of stress and repeated call attempts. Sometimes being proven wrong is a good thing!

As someone who works at a tax firm, I can tell you that duplicate W-2 filings happen pretty frequently. Usually what happens is: 1. The duplicate gets flagged in the SSA's Business Services Online system 2. Their automated checks identify identical EIN, SSN, and wage amounts 3. Only one record ends up in the employee's wage history 4. No corrections are needed if the info is identical The employee shouldn't have any issues filing. Their W-2 information is consolidated in the IRS system before it's matched to their tax return. But definitely let your employee know what happened so they're not surprised if they check their wage transcript online and temporarily see something odd.

Has anyone ever had the IRS actually combine the W-2s incorrectly and double the income? That's what I'm most worried about with my situation...

I went through this exact situation about 6 months ago when our accounting software glitched and submitted W-2s twice for our entire payroll. I was absolutely panicking! Here's what actually happened: The IRS caught all the duplicates automatically within their processing system. None of our employees had any issues when they filed their returns - the system consolidated the identical records before matching them to tax filings. I did call the SSA Employer Reporting Service like others mentioned (definitely recommend doing this), and they told me it's surprisingly common. They said as long as all the information is identical - same wages, withholdings, etc. - their systems are designed to handle it. The only employee who had a minor issue was one where we discovered the second filing had a $12 difference in federal withholding due to a rounding error in our backup system. That employee got a letter asking for clarification, but it was resolved quickly with a simple explanation. My advice: Document everything, notify the employee so they're not caught off guard, and make that call to SSA. But don't lose sleep over it - this is way more routine than you'd think!

This is such a relief to read everyone's experiences! I'm dealing with a similar situation where I accidentally submitted W-2s twice for 3 employees through different systems. Based on what everyone's shared, it sounds like the key points are: 1. The IRS/SSA systems are designed to catch these duplicates automatically 2. As long as the information is identical, it shouldn't cause issues for employees filing their returns 3. It's good practice to call the SSA Employer Reporting Service to document the situation 4. Definitely inform the affected employees so they're not surprised I'm curious - for those who called the SSA, did they give you any kind of reference number or confirmation that you reported the duplicate filing? I want to make sure I have proper documentation for our records in case any questions come up later. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's made this whole situation much less stressful!

I work in tax compliance and just wanted to add some reassurance here. The IRS's Wage and Tax Statement processing system has become very sophisticated at identifying duplicates over the years. When they receive multiple W-2s with identical EIN, SSN, and wage information, the system flags them during the initial processing phase and consolidates the records automatically. This happens before the information is made available for matching against individual tax returns, so your employee shouldn't encounter any issues when filing. One thing I'd add to the great advice already given - if you have access to the SSA's Business Services Online portal, you can actually view the status of your W-2 submissions there. It will show if any were flagged as duplicates or if there were processing issues. This can give you additional peace of mind that everything was handled correctly on their end. The most important thing is that you're being proactive about this. Many employers don't even realize when this happens, so you're already ahead of the game by addressing it directly.