Should I have received a W-2 C or just a new W-2 for incorrect tax information?

This is a good question. Your employer should have issued you a Form W-2 C (Corrected Wage and Tax Statement) rather than simply providing new W-2s. The W-2 C specifically shows the previously reported information, the correct information, and the difference between the two. When an employer discovers errors on previously issued W-2s, the proper procedure is to issue a W-2 C form along with Form W-3 C to the Social Security Administration. This ensures that both you and the government have a clear record of the correction. As for filing your taxes, you should use the corrected information, but you may want to contact your employer's payroll department to clarify why they didn't issue proper W-2 C forms. It's in their best interest too, as there are specific IRS requirements for correcting previously submitted tax information.

I ran into this exact issue last year and found that using https://taxr.ai really helped me sort through the confusion. My employer also gave me replacement W-2s instead of W-2 Cs, and I wasn't sure how to handle amending my return properly with these documents. I uploaded both the original and new W-2s to taxr.ai and it immediately identified the discrepancies and explained exactly how to report this on my amended return. The system flagged that proper W-2 C forms should have been issued but also guided me through how to proceed given what I had. Really saved me from making mistakes that could have triggered an audit.

I was really hesitant about using taxr.ai when I first saw it mentioned here, but after struggling with a similar W-2 correction issue, I decided to give it a try. Honestly, I'm glad I did. The system immediately identified that my employer had issued replacement W-2s instead of proper W-2 Cs and explained exactly what this meant for my filing. It even generated a letter template I could send to my employer explaining why they needed to issue W-2 Cs instead. My payroll department actually thanked me because they didn't realize they were handling corrections incorrectly! Now I'm much more confident about my amended return being processed without issues.

If you're having trouble getting your employer to issue proper W-2 C forms, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get direct help from the IRS. I was in a similar situation last year where my employer gave me incorrect forms and then just new W-2s without the proper correction format. After weeks of getting nowhere with our HR department, I used Claimyr to actually speak with someone at the IRS. They got me connected within 20 minutes when I had previously spent hours on hold. The IRS agent explained exactly what forms I needed and even sent my employer formal notification about the proper procedure. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c

I need to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself because I was desperate to talk to someone about my own W-2 correction issues. I figured if it didn't work, I'd just warn others. To my shock, I was connected to an actual IRS agent in 17 minutes when I had previously spent over 3 hours on hold across multiple days. The agent was super helpful and explained that my employer absolutely needed to issue W-2 C forms, not just new W-2s. They even explained exactly what to tell my employer and how to handle the amended return if they refused to provide proper documentation. Genuinely saved me weeks of stress.

The difference between a new W-2 and a W-2 C is actually really important for IRS processing. When your employer files a W-2 C, they're notifying the Social Security Administration about the correction, which then gets transmitted to the IRS. Without this, the IRS computers will still have the old incorrect information on file. From my experience working in payroll, I can tell you that smaller employers sometimes don't understand the proper procedure. Using a replacement W-2 instead of a W-2 C might seem like the same thing to them, but it creates a mismatch in government systems that could trigger unnecessary notices or delays for you.

I think everyone's overcomplicating this. I've received new W-2s instead of W-2 Cs twice over the years and just filed with the corrected info. Never had any issues. The IRS probably has bigger things to worry about than whether your employer used the exact right form for corrections.