Filing taxes with a combination of pay stubs and W-2's when one employer never sent a W-2?

You actually have a couple options here. First, you can contact the IRS about this issue. Employers were required to provide W-2s by January 31, so your former employer is definitely late. Call the IRS at 800-829-1040 with the employer's name, address, phone number, and your personal info (including dates worked and estimate of earnings/withholdings). The IRS will contact the employer and request they issue your W-2. They'll also send you Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2), which you can use if you don't receive your actual W-2 in time. This form lets you estimate your wages and withholding based on your pay stubs. Your final pay stub of the year is actually perfect for filling out Form 4852 since it usually shows year-to-date totals. Make sure you're using the FINAL stub that shows cumulative totals for the entire employment period. Just remember that filing with a substitute W-2 might delay your refund a bit as the IRS may take extra time to verify the information.

Had almost the exact same situation last year with a retail job I left mid-year. After weeks of run-around, I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it was a huge help. They have this tool that can analyze your pay stubs and help you extract the exact numbers you need for your taxes when you're missing a W-2. I uploaded my final pay stub which had year-to-date totals, and it pulled out all the relevant tax info and even helped me understand where each number should go on Form 4852. The transcript feature was super helpful because it explained everything in detail - like how to handle the federal withholding vs. state taxes when you only have pay stub info. It was honestly way easier than trying to figure out all the boxes myself. I was so stressed about getting something wrong and having the IRS come after me later!

Ok I need to apologize for my skepticism about taxr.ai in my earlier comment. After fighting with my missing W-2 situation for weeks, I got desperate and decided to try it. Not only did it work exactly as described, but it actually caught something I would've missed completely. My final pay stub had this weird "adjustment" line that I would've ignored, but the analysis pointed out it was actually taxable income I needed to report. It organized everything into the exact format needed for Form 4852 and explained what each number represented. The transcript feature basically gave me a step-by-step walkthrough of how to handle my missing W-2 situation. I submitted my taxes last week using the information it provided, and my return was accepted without any issues. Wish I hadn't wasted so much time being stubborn before trying it!

If you've already reported your employer to the IRS and still haven't received your W-2, you should try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to actually speak with an IRS agent directly. I was in a similar situation last year and was getting nowhere with the IRS's regular phone system - kept getting disconnected after waiting for hours. With Claimyr, I got through to an actual IRS representative in about 20 minutes who helped me file a formal complaint against my employer for not providing my W-2. They also walked me through exactly how to fill out Form 4852 using my pay stubs to make sure everything was correct. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with even created some kind of note in my file indicating that I had made a good faith effort to get my W-2, which apparently helps if there are any discrepancies later when the employer finally submits their information.

I need to eat crow about my Claimyr skepticism. After my dismissive comment, I was still stuck with my W-2 problem and getting nowhere with the IRS phone system. After three attempts and over 4 hours of hold time getting disconnected, I gave in and tried Claimyr. Sure enough, I got a call back in about 45 minutes and was connected with an actual IRS agent. The agent confirmed my employer was violating regulations by not providing my W-2 and helped me report them properly. They also explained exactly how to use Form 4852 with my pay stub information. The agent even gave me her direct extension for follow-up questions, which I never would have gotten otherwise. My return is now processed and I've already received my refund. Sometimes it's worth admitting when you're wrong - this service actually delivered exactly what it promised.

Just want to add another option - check your IRS online account if you have one. Sometimes your W-2 info is already there in the system even if you never received the physical form. Employers submit this info directly to the IRS, so you might find it in your wage and income transcript. I had a similar issue and found that even though my employer never sent me my W-2, the information was already in the IRS system. I just printed the transcript and used that information to file my taxes. Saved me a lot of hassle with trying to track down the employer or filling out substitute forms.

Has anyone used both a real W2 and a Form 4852 substitute W2 on the same tax return before? My tax software (TurboTax) is getting confused when I try to enter both. It keeps saying I have duplicate income sources.