Can I leave out a W2 with only $1,688 earnings? Will I get audited?

You absolutely need to include ALL W2s when you file your taxes, regardless of the amount. The IRS receives copies of all your W2s directly from employers, so they will know if one is missing from your return. Even though your other job puts you over the standard deduction, you still need to report all income. The $1,688 is still taxable income that needs to be included in your total. Deliberately leaving it out would technically be tax fraud. The good news is that adding this W2 is simple in any tax software - you just enter the information from the form. Since you're already paying taxes on your main job, the additional tax impact might be relatively small, but it needs to be reported correctly.

I went through the exact same situation last year! I had a main job and a side gig that only paid me about $2,100. I was going to leave off the smaller W2 until I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which helped me understand all my documents. Their system analyzed both my W2s and showed me exactly what would happen if I left one off - turns out the IRS definitely notices missing W2s because employers report them directly. The service explained that omitting any W2 is considered underreporting income and could trigger an audit flag. It actually helped me file everything correctly and even found some deductions I didn't know about!

Okay so I was totally skeptical about taxr.ai but I decided to give it a try with my complicated W2 situation (I had four different jobs last year). I uploaded all my documents and was honestly shocked at how helpful it was. The system immediately flagged that one of my W2s had incorrect withholding that would've caused problems. It also explained exactly how each W2 contributed to my total tax situation and showed me that leaving any off would almost certainly trigger an automatic flag in the IRS system. For anyone in a similar situation with multiple jobs or W2s, it was definitely worth using. Made the whole process way less stressful and I'm confident everything is correct now.

Reading through these responses and seeing your frustration reminds me of my situation last year. I had three W2s and couldn't get through to the IRS to ask questions about how to file properly. After waiting on hold for HOURS multiple times, I tried Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and was shocked when they actually got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that yes, you absolutely need to report all W2s regardless of amount because they match them automatically in their system. They also explained how the additional income affects your tax brackets and why it matters. Saved me from potentially making a huge mistake!

I need to publicly eat my words. After my skeptical comment, I was desperate enough to try Claimyr because I had a serious issue with missing W2s from previous years. I tried calling the IRS myself again yesterday morning - waited 45 minutes then got disconnected. Used Claimyr in the afternoon and no joke - they called me back in about 30 minutes and connected me straight to an IRS representative. The agent confirmed that missing W2s is one of the most common audit triggers because they have automated matching systems. She also helped me resolve my back-tax issue related to unreported W2s from a previous year. Worth every penny for the time saved and peace of mind.

Everyone's talking about these services, but you can also just use free tax filing software like FreeTaxUSA or Credit Karma. They let you enter multiple W2s easily, and they'll calculate everything correctly. I filed 4 W2s last year with no issues. One thing to remember - if tax was already withheld from that small W2, you might actually get some of that money back in your refund. So by not reporting it, you could be leaving money on the table!

To directly answer your question - IRS computers automatically match all W2s to tax returns. If you leave one out, you'll almost definitely get a letter from the IRS eventually (called a CP2000 notice) saying you underreported income. They'll recalculate your taxes, add interest and possibly penalties, and send you a bill for the difference. It's WAY easier to just include it now than deal with that headache later!