Former employer closed down and I never received a W-2, was never in system

This is actually more common than you might think. Since your employer paid you "under the table" (without proper payroll), you technically need to report this as self-employment income on Schedule C. You don't need a W-2 to report income - the IRS expects you to report all income regardless of documentation. The good news is you likely won't get in trouble if you report it now, even if it's late. The IRS is typically more concerned with people who deliberately hide income rather than those trying to fix past mistakes. Use your bank statements to estimate how much you earned during that period if you have no pay stubs.

I went through almost the EXACT same situation last year with a restaurant that closed down! After spending weeks trying to track down my W-2 and getting nowhere, I found this service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped me figure out how to handle missing employment documents. They have this feature where you can explain your situation and they'll tell you exactly what forms to file and how to estimate your income properly. The best part was they showed me how to fill out that Form 8919 mentioned above so I didn't get stuck paying extra self-employment taxes for my boss's mistake. They even helped me calculate a reasonable income estimate based on my bank deposits.

Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai from the recommendation above. Seriously, it was exactly what I needed! I uploaded my bank statements and explained my situation with the multiple missing W-2s, and they walked me through everything step by step. They showed me how to properly fill out Form 8919 for each employer and even helped me create a paper trail that would satisfy the IRS if I ever got audited. They pointed out that I could actually qualify for some deductions I didn't realize applied to my situation. Definitely helped me avoid the panic I was feeling about filing with missing documents!

If you're still trying to track down the former owner for your W-2 and getting nowhere, you might want to check out Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I used them when I had a similar issue and needed to talk to someone at the IRS about missing employment documents. They got me through to an actual human at the IRS in about 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. Basically they hold your place in the phone queue and call you when an agent is about to pick up. I was super skeptical but the IRS actually had some options for me I didn't know about, including filing a complaint against the employer for not providing tax documents.

Alright I need to eat my words here. After posting that skeptical comment above, I was still desperate to talk to the IRS about a similar issue with missing documents, so I tried Claimyr anyway. Not gonna lie, it worked EXACTLY as advertised. Got a call back in about 20 minutes, and the IRS agent I spoke with was actually really helpful. They confirmed I could use Form 4852 (Substitute for W-2) along with Form 8919 to report the income without getting hit with self-employment taxes. They also gave me information about how to document my attempts to get the W-2 from my former employer, which apparently helps protect me if there's ever any question about my filing.

Just to add another perspective - I didn't report some cash income from a job years ago (about $4500) and ended up getting a letter from the IRS about it 3 years later. Turns out the business had actually reported paying me on their taxes even though they never gave me a W-2. The penalties and interest were way worse than if I'd just reported it correctly from the start. Don't risk it!!

Something nobody's mentioned - you should check your Social Security statement online at ssa.gov to see if any wages were reported. If your employer DID report wages but just never gave you a W-2, it would show up there. This might help you figure out exactly what was reported so you can match it on your tax return.

If all else fails and you can't figure out the exact amount, make a good faith estimate based on how many hours you worked and what your hourly rate was. The IRS mainly cares that you're making an honest effort to report your income. Just document how you came up with your estimate (like "worked approx 20 hours per week for 25 weeks at $15/hr = $7,500") and keep that with your tax records.