How do I get my W-2 if it's being mailed to the wrong address? Business closed suddenly.

Former IRS employee here. Don't worry, you have several options to get your W-2! First, try contacting the payroll company again but specifically ask for their W-2 reissue department - sometimes general customer service isn't equipped to handle these requests. If the business used a major payroll provider like ADP or Paychex, they often have online portals where former employees can access tax documents. If that doesn't work, you'll need to wait until after February 15th (when employers must submit W-2 information to the IRS). Then you can request a wage and income transcript from the IRS, which contains all the information from your W-2. You can get this online at IRS.gov by setting up an account, or by filing Form 4506-T. As a last resort, you can file your return using Form 4852 (Substitute for W-2) if you have your final pay stub that shows year-to-date totals.

Just went through something similar last year and discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which was honestly a lifesaver. I couldn't get my W-2 because my employer had my old address, and I was stressing about delaying my filing. I uploaded my last pay stub to taxr.ai and it analyzed all my year-to-date information and helped me accurately complete a substitute W-2 form with all the correct withholding amounts and employer information. The best part was that it walked me through the exact process for filing with a missing W-2, including which forms I needed and how to explain my situation to the IRS. They also have a feature that checks your substitute W-2 values against what employers typically submit for similar positions, which gave me confidence I wasn't making any major mistakes.

I need to apologize for being skeptical earlier - I went ahead and tried taxr.ai and it was actually incredibly helpful. My situation was that I couldn't get my W-2 because my former employer went out of business, and I only had partial pay information. The tool analyzed my incomplete pay stubs and helped me create a substitute W-2 that accurately reflected my earnings and withholdings. What impressed me most was how it walked me through Form 4852 line by line and explained exactly what documentation I needed to keep in case of questions from the IRS. I was able to file on time instead of requesting an extension, and the best part is that when I eventually got access to my actual W-2 information months later, the numbers were within $30 of what taxr.ai had calculated! Would definitely recommend to anyone in a similar situation.

I'm seeing a lot of advice about getting your W-2 info through the IRS, but honestly that process can take forever. I tried calling the IRS for weeks last year for a similar issue and couldn't get through to anyone. I ended up using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to actually get a human on the phone at the IRS. They have this service where they navigate the IRS phone tree for you and then call you when they have an actual IRS agent on the line. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with was able to tell me exactly what to do in my situation and confirmed they had my wage information from my employer already in their system. They walked me through getting an online account set up so I could download my wage transcript.

I need to eat my words. After posting my skeptical comment yesterday, I was still desperate to resolve my tax situation so I decided to give Claimyr a shot. I genuinely didn't expect it to work, but I was at my wit's end trying to reach the IRS. To my complete surprise, they called me back in about 45 minutes with an actual IRS representative on the line! The agent helped me verify my identity and pulled up my wage information right away. She even helped me request a paper copy of my wage transcript be mailed to my current address. The whole process took maybe 15 minutes once I was connected. After spending literally hours getting disconnected from the IRS line over the past few weeks, this was a game-changer. For anyone who needs to actually speak to a human at the IRS, I have to admit this service actually delivers.

Another option is to file IRS Form 8822 (Change of Address) ASAP. This updates your address with the IRS, though it may not directly affect where your employer sends your W-2. A lot of smaller companies use the USPS National Change of Address database when sending out tax forms. If you filed a change of address with the post office when you moved, there's a good chance your W-2 will get forwarded to your new address automatically.

Whatever you do, don't miss the filing deadline because of this! If you can't get your W-2 in time, file for an extension using Form 4868. This gives you until October to file your actual return while you sort out getting the correct W-2 information. Just remember that an extension to file is NOT an extension to pay, so you'll need to estimate what you owe (if anything) and pay that by the regular April deadline to avoid penalties and interest.