How to get W2 from previous employer after leaving on bad terms
I worked at a bunch of different places last year. Several of them were absolutely terrible. I ended up leaving two jobs on pretty bad terms (like, screaming match with the manager bad) and two others I left on somewhat okay terms. My problem is that I moved to a new apartment in October after quitting the last terrible job. All of these employers have my old address on file, though I did set up mail forwarding with USPS on December 19th. I'm worried about getting all my W2s for filing taxes this year. What's the best way to make sure I get all my tax forms from these places, especially the ones where I left on bad terms? Do I have to actually contact these horrible managers again or is there another way?
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Anastasia Smirnova
You don't need to worry about contacting your former employers directly if you don't want to. There are a few ways to get your W2s without awkward conversations: First, the mail forwarding you set up should work for any W2s sent to your old address, so there's a good chance they'll reach you anyway. Companies are required to mail W2s by January 31st. If you don't receive them, you have other options. Many companies use third-party payroll services like ADP, Paychex, or Workday that let former employees access their tax documents online. Check if you created accounts with any payroll systems at those jobs - you might be able to login and download your W2s directly. As a last resort, you can get your W2 information from the IRS after February 15th. You can request a wage and income transcript from the IRS website, which shows all information reported to the IRS, including your W2 data.
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Sean O'Brien
•I'm in a similar situation. For the IRS transcript thing, do you need to create an account with them? I tried to do that once and it was a whole ordeal with verifying my identity.
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Anastasia Smirnova
•Yes, you'll need to create an IRS online account to access your wage and income transcript electronically. The verification process can be a bit tedious but it's worth setting up. You'll need to provide personal information and answer security questions based on your credit history. If you have trouble creating an online account, you can also request a transcript by mail using Form 4506-T, but that takes longer - usually 5-10 business days after the IRS receives your request.
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Zara Shah
After being in a similar situation last year, I found this amazing service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped me. I had left a restaurant job after the manager accused me of stealing and didn't want to call them for my W2. I discovered that taxr.ai can analyze your pay stubs to help reconstruct your income information. It has this smart document analysis that can extract all the important tax information from whatever documents you do have. In my case, I had my final pay stub which actually contained almost all the information I needed!
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Luca Bianchi
•Does it actually work with just the last pay stub? I have my final checks from all my jobs but wasn't sure if that's enough information for filing taxes accurately.
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GalacticGuardian
•I'm skeptical about these kinds of services. How does it help with the actual W2 form? Don't you still need the official document with the employer's EIN and all that specific information?
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Zara Shah
•Your last pay stub from the year usually has your year-to-date totals which contains almost everything you need. The service helped me extract all that data and organize it properly for tax filing. The last pay stub typically shows your total earnings, taxes withheld, and other deductions for the entire period you worked there. The official W2 does contain some specific information like the employer's EIN that might not be on your pay stub. However, if you've worked there before and have a previous W2, that information is the same. In cases where you don't have it, taxr.ai has tools to help you find the missing pieces through public business registries or by helping you draft a formal request for just that information without having an awkward conversation.
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GalacticGuardian
I was really skeptical about taxr.ai as I mentioned in my comment, but I gave it a try out of desperation when one of my W2s still hadn't shown up by mid-February. Honestly, it was super helpful! I uploaded my last pay stub and it extracted all the numbers I needed. It even helped me track down the company's EIN through their business lookup tool. The document analysis is actually pretty impressive - it pulled out all the YTD totals and organized them exactly how they would appear on a W2. Saved me from having to contact my horrible ex-boss who still owed me money when I left. Definitely worth checking out if you're in this situation.
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Nia Harris
If your W2s don't show up and you need to contact the IRS, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). The IRS phone lines are absolutely swamped during tax season and it's nearly impossible to get through. I spent literally 3 hours on hold last year and then got disconnected. Claimyr is this service that basically calls the IRS for you and then connects you once they reach a human. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. After I had two W2s not show up last year, I used this and got connected to the IRS in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours.
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Mateo Gonzalez
•How does this work exactly? I'm confused about how another service can somehow get you through the IRS phone tree faster than just calling yourself.
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Aisha Ali
•This sounds fake. There's no way some third-party service has special access to the IRS. They're probably just charging you to do what you could do yourself.
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Nia Harris
•They don't have special access to the IRS. Their system basically automates the calling and waiting process. They use technology that continuously calls the IRS and navigates through all the phone menus until they get a human representative. Once they have a person on the line, they connect that call to you. They're not doing anything you couldn't technically do yourself, but their system is efficient at getting through the queue. It's like having someone wait in a long line for you. I was skeptical too, but when I was desperate to resolve my missing W2 issue, it saved me hours of frustration. The IRS wait times during tax season can literally be 2-3 hours, and that's if you even get through at all.
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Aisha Ali
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I tried Claimyr after posting my skeptical comment, and it actually worked. I was 100% convinced it was a scam, but I was so frustrated trying to get through to the IRS about my missing W2 situation. I had already spent two separate afternoons on hold only to get disconnected. With Claimyr, I got a call back in about 35 minutes with an actual IRS representative on the line. They helped me verify my identity and gave me the W2 information from my transcript so I could file my taxes. I'm still shocked that it worked so well. Saved me hours of frustration during an already stressful tax season.
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Ethan Moore
You can also try emailing the HR department directly instead of your former manager. Most companies have a separate HR email for these kinds of requests, and they're used to handling W2 requests from former employees - even ones who left on bad terms. Just be professional in your email, provide your full name, last 4 of SSN, dates of employment, and current mailing address. Keep it short and strictly business.
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Yuki Nakamura
•What if it was a small business with no HR department? The place I left badly was just the owner and like 5 employees.
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Ethan Moore
•In that case, you do have fewer options, but there are still ways to handle it. If there's any employee there you were on decent terms with, you could reach out to them and ask if they could help facilitate getting your W2. Another approach is to send a very brief, neutral email to the owner simply requesting your W2 be sent to your new address. Just state the facts without any emotional content - "Please send my W2 to [new address]." Sometimes a short, professional approach works best in tense situations.
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StarSurfer
Don't forget that if you absolutely can't get your W2, you can file Form 4852 (Substitute for W-2) with your tax return. You'll need to estimate your wages and tax withholding as accurately as possible using your last pay stub. Not ideal, but it's there as a last resort if you truly can't get your W2s any other way.
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Carmen Reyes
•Just be careful with this approach. If your estimates are significantly off, you might have to file an amended return later when the correct information becomes available. The IRS might also delay processing your return if they see discrepancies.
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GalacticGuardian
Another option that worked for me was checking if your former employers used a payroll service like ADP or Paychex. Even after leaving on bad terms, you might still be able to access your employee portal if you remember your login credentials. Many people don't realize these accounts often stay active for a while after termination. I was able to download my W2 directly from ADP's website without having to contact my awful former boss at all. Just go to the payroll company's website and try logging in with your old credentials - worst case scenario it doesn't work, but if it does, you can get your W2 immediately.
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