Need help! Former employer refusing to provide my W2 for tax filing

You definitely have options here! The IRS has procedures in place for exactly this situation. First, try calling the IRS directly at 800-829-1040. They'll ask for some identifying information (your name, address, phone number, SSN) and details about your employment (company name, address, dates of employment, and estimated wages/withholding). The IRS will then attempt to contact your employer. After that, you'll need to file Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2) with your tax return. This is essentially a replacement W-2 based on your best estimates of wages and withholding from your final paystubs or other records. As for missing the October 16 deadline - don't let that happen if possible! Filing late can result in penalties and interest on any taxes owed. The failure-to-file penalty is typically 5% of unpaid taxes per month. There's no such thing as "filing double next year" - each tax year must be filed separately. The good news is you can file with Form 4852 before the deadline and avoid those penalties entirely!

I went through this exact nightmare last year! After weeks of getting nowhere with my old company, I used taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it was seriously a lifesaver. They have this feature that helped me create a substitute W-2 with my best estimates. The tool asked me questions about my employment dates, approximate salary, and any info I had from paystubs. It then generated all the documentation I needed and guided me through filing Form 4852. What I really liked was that it double-checked my withholding estimates to make sure they seemed reasonable based on my income level - which helped me avoid raising red flags with the IRS. My return was accepted without any issues, and I actually got my refund faster than I expected!

I was super skeptical about using taxr.ai at first, but after my former company completely ghosted me about my W-2, I was desperate. Decided to try it based on comments here, and wow - it was actually really helpful! I had my last paystub from November which showed YTD earnings, so I uploaded that. The system helped me calculate everything and completely walked me through creating a substitute W-2 with Form 4852. It even flagged that my federal withholding seemed a bit high based on my income level and had me double-check those numbers (I had accidentally added an extra digit). Filed two weeks ago and already got my refund deposited yesterday. Just wanted to come back and say thanks for recommending it - saved me from missing the deadline and dealing with penalties!

After dealing with a similar W-2 nightmare (former employer went out of business!), I tried calling the IRS directly about 20 times with no luck - always got disconnected or ridiculous wait times. Finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to an actual human at the IRS, and they walked me through my options. I was super skeptical at first, but their service actually works - you can see a demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed I could file Form 4852 and gave me specific instructions about what documentation to keep in case of questions later. They also said my former employer could be fined for not providing my W-2. The peace of mind from talking to an actual IRS representative was 100% worth it.

Ok I need to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier. After another failed attempt to reach the IRS myself (2 hours on hold then disconnected), I broke down and tried Claimyr out of pure desperation. I honestly can't believe it worked. I got a call back connecting me to an actual IRS agent about 90 minutes after signing up. The agent was able to confirm they had no W-2 on file from my former employer and helped me understand exactly what I needed to do with Form 4852. They also said they'd be contacting my former employer about their failure to provide required tax documents, which gave me a bit of satisfaction. The agent even helped me calculate a reasonable estimate for my withholdings based on my income level. Just wanted to come back and say I was wrong. Sometimes solutions actually do exist for these nightmarish tax situations!

Quick warning: if your employer paid you as a 1099 contractor instead of a W-2 employee (which some shady companies do), you might be waiting for a W-2 that was never created. Check your last paystub to see if they were withholding taxes. If not, you might need to look for a 1099-NEC instead of a W-2. This happened to my wife and she wasted weeks trying to get a W-2 before realizing they had misclassified her as an independent contractor.

Has anyone tried going to the physical location of their former employer? I had a similar situation last year and after all electronic communication failed, I just showed up at the office and refused to leave until someone helped me. Miraculously, they "found" my W-2 within 15 minutes.