Help with FREETAXUSA and Form 4852 when employer never sent W-2

5 What if they put a different amount than what actually got paid? My roommate had this happen and the employer reported more income than she actually received. Would this still work in that case?

12 If there's a discrepancy between what was actually paid and what the employer reported, that's a different issue. Your friend should still file Form 4852 with the correct amount they actually received. They should also gather any evidence they have of the actual payments - bank deposits, pay records, anything that shows the true amount. The IRS may contact them about the discrepancy, at which point they'll need to explain the situation and provide their documentation.

6 How accurate was it? I've had problems with payroll deductions in the past and I'm worried that just looking at bank deposits wouldn't capture all the tax withholdings correctly.

17 Does it work with independent contractor income too? I have a client who paid me but never sent a 1099-NEC and now they won't respond to emails.

8 It was surprisingly accurate for me. I actually found an old paystub later and the numbers they calculated were really close. It makes educated estimates for typical withholding percentages based on your state and filing status, and you can adjust if you know different information. For independent contractor income, it works great because you typically receive the full payment without withholding. The system can analyze your deposits and help you document the income received, which is what you need for reporting 1099 income that was never formally reported. It even gives you documentation to keep for your records showing how you determined the amounts.

3 Wait, I'm confused. How does this actually work? Does someone else talk to the IRS for you? Because I don't want anyone else handling my tax info.

19 This sounds like a scam. There's no way some random service can get you through to the IRS faster. I've heard the IRS doesn't even answer most of their calls.

9 No, they don't talk to the IRS for you - they just handle the waiting on hold part. Their system waits in the IRS phone queue (which can be hours), and when an actual IRS agent picks up, Claimyr calls you so you can talk directly to the agent yourself. They never access your personal information or speak on your behalf. The reason it works is because they use technology to handle the hold time, not because they have special access. The IRS does answer calls, it's just that their hold times are ridiculous - often 2-3 hours during tax season. This service just handles that waiting part so you don't have to keep your phone tied up all day.

22 Do you need to mail anything in when you file a return with Form 4852? Or can you still e-file through FREETAXUSA?

11 You can still e-file with FREETAXUSA even when including Form 4852. The system will prepare the form with your estimated information and include it with your electronic filing. You should keep all documentation of your attempts to get the W-2 and how you calculated your income estimates in your personal records. While you don't need to mail these documents with your return, you should keep them for at least 3 years in case the IRS has questions later. The IRS may contact you if their records show significantly different information than what you reported.

7 Yeah their interface can be confusing. For Form 4852 specifically, I found it by going to Income > Wages and Salaries > Add a W-2 > then there's a small text link at the bottom saying "Missing W-2" or something similar. It's really easy to miss.

This is incredibly helpful! I didn't know about checking the Social Security account online - that's a great tip. My cousin might not have any paystubs at all since this employer was so sketchy, but the bank statement approach makes total sense. Did you have any trouble later when the IRS processed your return? I'm worried they might flag it for review since there's no matching W-2 in their system.

I actually didn't have any issues with processing! The IRS processed my return normally and I got my refund on schedule. I think as long as you're honest about the amounts and can justify how you calculated them, they're pretty understanding about missing W-2 situations. The key thing is that employers are still required to submit wage information to the IRS even if they don't send you the W-2. So the IRS has records of what was reported, they just can't share specific details over the phone unless you jump through hoops (which is where services like Claimyr mentioned above can help). If there's a big discrepancy between what you report and what the employer reported to the IRS, they might send you a notice to clarify. But in my case, my estimates were pretty close to what the employer had actually reported, so no problems. The SSA account trick is seriously underrated - it shows all your earnings history and is usually updated faster than you'd expect!

No issues at all with processing! The IRS did send me a letter about 6 months later asking for documentation of how I calculated the amounts, but it wasn't a big deal. I just sent copies of my bank statements showing the deposits, screenshots from my SSA account, and a letter explaining the situation with the disappeared employer. They accepted everything and that was the end of it. The key is being honest and reasonable with your estimates. Don't lowball the income thinking you'll pay less taxes - if anything, be slightly conservative and estimate a bit higher. The IRS is surprisingly understanding when employers go out of business or are uncooperative, as long as you're making a good faith effort to report accurately.

No issues at all with the IRS! My return processed normally and I got my refund on the expected timeline. I think the key was being thorough with my documentation and making reasonable estimates based on actual records (bank deposits, etc.) rather than just guessing. The IRS does have records of what employers report for payroll taxes, so if your cousin's sketchy employer actually did report her wages properly (even if they didn't send her a W-2), the numbers should match up. If they never reported anything at all, then at least your cousin is being honest about her income, which is what matters. I'd definitely recommend the Social Security account check first - that was a lifesaver for me because it showed exactly what was reported under my SSN. If nothing shows up there, then the employer probably never reported her wages at all, which actually makes the Form 4852 filing more straightforward.

No issues at all with my filing! The IRS processed it normally and I got my refund on the expected timeline. I think they're pretty used to dealing with Form 4852 situations, especially with sketchy employers who don't follow proper procedures. The key is being honest and reasonable with your estimates. Don't inflate numbers to try to get a bigger refund - if anything, be slightly conservative. The Social Security account thing was a lifesaver for me because it showed the exact wages that were reported, even though I never got the W-2. Your cousin should definitely check that first before making estimates. Sometimes employers do report the wages to Social Security but just fail to send the employee copies. If the wages show up there, she can use those exact numbers for Form 4852 and feel confident they're accurate.

The IRS didn't flag mine for manual review, but I think that's because I was pretty conservative with my estimates and had good documentation. Since your cousin's employer was sketchy and might not have reported anything properly to the IRS, there's a higher chance of a mismatch that could trigger questions. My advice would be to err on the side of slightly underestimating rather than overestimating wages if you're unsure. It's better to potentially owe a small amount later than to claim a big refund that gets held up. Also, definitely check that SSA account @Maggie Martinez mentioned - if the employer did report wages to Social Security, that s'the most reliable number to use for Form 4852.

No trouble at all with the IRS processing! They actually processed my return normally and I got my refund on schedule. I think as long as you're making good faith estimates and have some documentation to back up your numbers, they don't typically flag it. The key is being reasonable with your estimates - don't lowball your income just to reduce taxes owed, because if the employer did report something to the IRS that's significantly higher, that could cause problems. I used my bank deposits to calculate the gross amount, then estimated withholdings based on what would be typical for someone in my tax bracket. One more tip - if your cousin remembers roughly what her hourly wage was and approximately how many hours she worked, that can be another way to cross-check your estimates from the bank deposits. The more documentation and logic you can show for how you arrived at your numbers, the better.

@Derek Olson No issues at all! The IRS processed my return normally and I got my refund on schedule. I think they re'pretty used to dealing with Form 4852 situations, especially with sketchy employers who don t'follow proper procedures. The key thing is being reasonable with your estimates - don t'try to lowball your income to reduce taxes owed, because if the employer did report something to the IRS that s'way different from what you filed, THAT S'when you ll'get flagged. But if you make honest estimates based on what you actually received, you should be fine. One more tip - when you re'filling out the form, there s'a section where you explain why you re'using Form 4852 instead of a W-2. Be specific: Employer "ceased operations and did not provide W-2 despite multiple contact attempts or" something like that. Shows you made a good faith effort to get the proper documentation.

The IRS actually processed my return without any issues! I was worried about the same thing, but here's what happened in my case: Even though the employer disappeared, they had apparently filed their quarterly payroll reports with the IRS before shutting down. So when I filed Form 4852, my estimated numbers were close enough to what was already in the IRS system that it didn't trigger any flags. That said, I did get a letter about 6 months later asking me to verify some information, but it was just a routine correspondence. I sent them copies of my bank statements showing the deposits and a letter explaining the employer situation, and that was the end of it. The key is really making your best honest estimate using whatever records you have. The Social Security account tip is gold - it saved me because it showed the exact wages that were reported, so I knew my Form 4852 amounts were accurate. Even if your cousin's employer was sketchy, if they paid payroll taxes at all, those wages should show up in her SSA account.

No trouble at all! The IRS actually expects Form 4852 filings when employers don't provide W-2s, so it's not unusual for them. My return processed normally and I got my refund on the typical timeline. The key thing is being reasonable with your estimates - don't lowball the income thinking you'll save on taxes, because if the employer did report something different, that could create problems. It's better to slightly overestimate wages if you're unsure. The Social Security earnings check is really the best way to verify - those numbers come directly from what employers reported to the government, so they're usually spot-on for the actual wages earned.

No trouble at all! My return processed normally and I got my refund on schedule. The IRS has ways to match employer payroll deposits with individual returns, so they can usually verify that income was actually paid even without a formal W-2. The key is being honest and thorough with your estimates. If anything, I'd recommend erring slightly on the conservative side rather than inflating numbers. The Social Security website was a lifesaver for me - it showed exactly what my employer had reported for wages, which made the Form 4852 super accurate. Your cousin should definitely check that first before doing anything else. It might save her a lot of guesswork!