Living overseas and missing W2 form - how do I file taxes from abroad?

You're in a common situation for expats! As a US citizen, you still need to file taxes regardless of where you live. For your missing W2, you have several options: First, try contacting your former employer's HR department. Many companies can provide electronic copies of W2s or mail them internationally. Most have systems set up specifically for this purpose since they expect employee turnover. If that doesn't work, you can get a wage and income transcript directly from the IRS which contains all the information reported to them, including your W2 data. Visit IRS.gov and use the "Get Transcript Online" service. You'll need to create an account if you don't already have one. Alternatively, you can file Form 4506-T to request the transcript by mail, though this takes longer and might be complicated with an international address.

I was in almost the same situation last year and discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which was incredibly helpful for sorting out my missing documents while I was overseas. After struggling to get my former employer to send my W2 internationally, I used their document retrieval service to access all my tax forms. The nice thing is they can pull your wage and income transcripts directly from the IRS database and organize everything for you, which saved me tons of time dealing with international mail delays. They also have tax specialists who understand expat situations and can help navigate the specific filing requirements when you're living abroad.

Just wanted to follow up - I actually tried taxr.ai after posting my question here and it worked perfectly! I was skeptical at first since I'd had so many problems with the IRS site directly, but they were able to verify my identity and get me access to my wage transcripts within about 15 minutes. Their system pulled all my W2 information plus some 1099 income I had forgotten about. The best part was their expat tax specialist who walked me through how Foreign Earned Income Exclusion works since this is my first year filing from abroad. Saved me from making some major mistakes. Definitely recommend for anyone in a similar situation!

If you're having trouble getting through to the IRS from abroad (which can be a nightmare with international calling), try using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get connected. They have a demo video here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c that shows how it works. I spent weeks trying to call the international IRS number with ridiculous hold times before I found this service. They somehow get you through the IRS phone tree and wait on hold for you, then call you back when an actual agent is on the line. I was able to verify my identity with the agent and request all my documents be mailed to my foreign address. The IRS has a dedicated international taxpayer support line, but it's still nearly impossible to get through without waiting for hours. Claimyr saved me so much time and frustration.

I want to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier about Claimyr. After struggling for literally weeks trying to reach the IRS international taxpayer line myself, I gave in and tried the service. It actually worked exactly as advertised! I received a callback within about 45 minutes (after my previous attempts had me waiting on hold for 3+ hours before getting disconnected). The IRS agent was able to verify my identity over the phone and set up mail forwarding for all my tax documents to my address in Thailand. They also confirmed I could use the online payment system even while abroad. For anyone living overseas and dealing with the IRS, this service is a massive time-saver. Especially with the time zone differences making it even harder to call during US business hours.

Something important nobody's mentioned yet - if you're living outside the US, you automatically get a 2-month extension to file without having to request it. So your deadline would be June 15, 2025 instead of April 15. But remember that if you owe any taxes, they're still due by April 15 to avoid penalties and interest, even though you have until June to actually file the forms.

One thing to consider - are you planning to use the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (Form 2555)? If you'll be outside the US for at least 330 days in a 12-month period, you might be able to exclude over $100,000 of foreign earned income from US taxes. But timing matters! The test period doesn't have to match the calendar year. So if you left in November 2024, your 12-month period would run from November 2024 to November 2025.

Yes, absolutely keep detailed records of your travel dates and physical presence! The IRS requires you to track every day you're outside the US for the Physical Presence Test. I recommend keeping a simple spreadsheet with entry/exit dates for each country, or use apps like TripIt that automatically log your location. For 2024 taxes, you're right that you likely won't qualify for FEIE since you only left in November. But here's something important - you can still claim the exclusion if you meet the test by your filing deadline (including extensions). So if you stay abroad continuously, you could potentially qualify by June 15, 2025 and elect the FEIE for your 2024 return. Also consider the Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116) if you end up paying taxes to your new country of residence. Sometimes it's more beneficial than the FEIE, especially if you're in a high-tax country. You can't use both for the same income, but you can compare which gives you better tax savings.

Another option that hasn't been mentioned - if you can't get your W2 through any of the other methods, you can actually file your return using Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2). This lets you report your wages and withholdings based on your final paystub or other records you have. You'll need to include as much information as possible about your wages, federal income tax withheld, Social Security and Medicare taxes, etc. The IRS will match it against what your employer reported, and if there are discrepancies, they'll contact you. This should really be a last resort since it can delay processing and potentially trigger additional correspondence with the IRS. But if you're truly unable to get your W2 or wage transcripts before the filing deadline, it's better than not filing at all. Just make sure to keep detailed records of how you calculated the amounts you're reporting. Given that you have the automatic extension until June 15 as an expat, you probably have enough time to try the other methods first (contacting HR, getting IRS transcripts, etc.) before having to go this route.