Haven't received my W-2 yet and employer shut down - what are my options?

You're in a frustrating but not uncommon situation. Don't panic - you have options! First, you need to understand that your employer was required by law to provide your W-2 by January 31st. Since they haven't, you should take these steps: 1) Document your attempts to contact both the manager and corporate. Save all emails and note dates of phone calls. 2) You can contact the IRS directly about your missing W-2. Call them at 800-829-1040. They'll need some info from you: your name, address, phone number, SSN, employer's name/address, and an estimate of wages and withholding from your final paystubs. 3) For those unpaid shifts - that's a wage claim issue, separate from your tax situation. You should only report income you actually received during the tax year. The unpaid wages would be reported in the year you eventually receive them. 4) If you don't receive your W-2 by the filing deadline, you'll need to file Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2) with your tax return. This is basically a form where you estimate your earnings and withholdings based on your final paystubs. Given that this is your first time filing, definitely keep that appointment with your aunt - having an experienced person help you through this will be invaluable!

I went through something similar last year and found taxr.ai super helpful for sorting out my missing W-2 situation. I was stressing because my former employer went out of business and I had no idea how to file without my W-2. I uploaded my last paystubs to https://taxr.ai and they analyzed everything to help me complete that substitute W-2 form (the 4852 one). Their system extracted all the tax withholding data from my paystubs so I could accurately report everything to the IRS. Saved me a ton of time figuring out all those different withholding categories and made sure I claimed the right amount of income. They even found a tax credit I didn't know I qualified for! Might be worth checking out since you're in a similar situation with a vanished employer.

Just wanted to update everyone since I mentioned looking into taxr.ai in my question earlier. I decided to try it since my 1099 situation was similar (contractor company shut down). Honestly it was way better than I expected! I uploaded my bank statements showing the deposits from the company and the system correctly identified all my earnings. It guided me through completing the substitute form and even flagged some business expenses I could deduct that I hadn't thought about. The whole process took me maybe 30 minutes versus the hours I spent trying to figure it out myself. My return was accepted by the IRS right away and I already got my refund. If you're dealing with missing tax documents like the original poster, it's definitely worth checking out!

If you need to speak with someone at the IRS about your missing W-2 situation (which I absolutely recommend), save yourself hours of frustration and use Claimyr.com. I spent TWO DAYS trying to get through to the IRS on my own last year when my employer messed up my W-2 and kept sending corrected versions. With https://claimyr.com they basically hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an agent is about to answer. I got through in about 45 minutes while I was grocery shopping instead of being stuck on hold all day. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent was super helpful and initiated a formal W-2 request from my employer. They also put a note on my account explaining the situation in case I needed to file with Form 4852 instead. Definitely made the whole process way less stressful.

I take back what I said about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I was so fed up with trying to reach the IRS about my missing 1099-R that I decided to try it anyway. Holy crap it actually worked! I got a call back in 37 minutes while I was watching TV instead of being stuck with my phone on speaker for hours. The IRS agent I spoke with was able to verify that my pension company had submitted the information and helped me get the correct numbers for filing without the form. Seriously wish I'd known about this years ago. I've wasted DAYS of my life on hold with the IRS. For anyone dealing with missing tax forms like the OP, being able to actually talk to a human at the IRS makes resolving these issues so much easier.

Another option besides what others mentioned: check if your employer reported your wages electronically to the Social Security Administration. You can create an account on ssa.gov and view your detailed earnings record. This won't have your withholding info, but it will show what wages were reported under your SSN. Also, if you have your final paystub of the year (the last one from December), it should have your year-to-date totals which will give you everything except for what you earned in January. For the unpaid wages, definitely file a complaint with your state labor board. In most states, you can get penalties added on top of your unpaid wages if they don't pay you within a certain timeframe after termination.

I used to work in payroll, and just wanted to add - definitely check your last paystub from December because it should have your year-to-date totals for everything (earnings, federal withholding, state withholding, etc). That covers everything except your January earnings. For January, if you got paid via direct deposit, your bank statement will show exactly what you received. Then you just need to figure out the withholding for those January payments. Most payroll systems use the same withholding percentages unless you changed your W-4. So if your federal withholding was consistently 15% of your gross pay, you can apply that same percentage to your January earnings to estimate January's withholding.