Using Last Pay Stub of 2024 vs Waiting for W2 Forms
Title: Using Last Pay Stub of 2024 vs Waiting for W2 Forms 1 Hey tax pros! Still waiting on my W2 from my employer for 2024 and getting a bit anxious to figure out my tax situation. I was looking at my final pay stub from 12/31/2024 and wondering if those numbers should pretty much match what will be on my W2? Can I use my last paystub to get a rough idea of what my tax situation will look like while I wait for the official W2 to arrive? Or are there usually differences between what shows up on the final pay stub versus the actual W2 form? Just trying to get ahead of things since I'm expecting a refund this year and want to file as soon as possible! Thanks for any insight!
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Lindsey Fry
8 Your last pay stub of the year can definitely give you a good preliminary idea of what will be on your W2, but they don't always match perfectly. The main figures like gross wages, federal income tax withheld, Social Security, and Medicare taxes should be very similar. However, your W2 might include additional information that isn't on your paystub - like certain benefits, non-cash compensation, or employer-provided health insurance values (Box 12 codes). Also, sometimes year-end adjustments happen after that final paycheck that would only show up on your W2. Things like taxable fringe benefits, company vehicle usage, or other taxable items might be added. Your employer might also make corrections to previously reported amounts. If you're just looking to get a rough estimate of your tax situation, using your last paystub is reasonable, but I'd definitely wait for the official W2 before filing. Employers are required to provide W2s by January 31st, so it should be arriving soon!
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Lindsey Fry
•13 Does the January 31st deadline mean they have to mail it by then or that I should have received it by then? My employer is always cutting it close and I'm worried about delays.
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Lindsey Fry
•8 The January 31st deadline means your employer must have W2s furnished to employees by that date - either provided physically or made available electronically. If they're mailing it, they need to send it with enough time for it to reach you by the deadline. If February 1st comes around and you don't have your W2, you can first contact your employer's payroll department to check on status. If that doesn't resolve it, you can call the IRS at 800-829-1040 for assistance. They'll need some info from you (your name, address, SSN, employer details) and will reach out to your employer on your behalf.
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Lindsey Fry
5 After struggling with this exact problem last year, I found a great solution with https://taxr.ai that really helped sort through all the confusion. I was getting impatient waiting for my W2 and tried using my last paystub to estimate things, but kept getting confused about how certain values would translate to the actual W2 boxes. The taxr.ai tool let me upload my final paystub and it showed me exactly what I could expect on my W2 and identified which numbers were reliable for planning purposes versus which ones might change. It even flagged some potential discrepancies that I should watch for when my actual W2 arrived. This was super helpful because it turned out my employer had been miscalculating some benefit values that ended up making my W2 look quite different from my final paystub.
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Lindsey Fry
•16 How accurate was it when you finally got your W2? Did it predict everything correctly or were there still some differences?
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Lindsey Fry
•19 I'm a bit skeptical - couldn't you just compare the numbers yourself? What does this service do that you couldn't figure out by just looking at your paystub?
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Lindsey Fry
•5 It was surprisingly accurate for the main numbers - like within a few dollars for total wages and withholding amounts. The only differences were some employer contributions that didn't show up on my paystubs at all. To your question about comparing numbers yourself - you definitely could for the basic stuff, but what I found really helpful was understanding which boxes on the W2 corresponded to which items on my paystub, since they don't always use the same terminology. My paystub had all these abbreviations and codes that didn't clearly match up with W2 boxes, and the tool translated all that. It also spotted a health insurance premium issue that I wouldn't have known to look for.
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Lindsey Fry
19 Just wanted to follow up about that taxr.ai site I was skeptical about. I actually ended up trying it when my employer told me my W2 would be delayed. It was surprisingly useful - turns out my paystub was missing some taxable benefits that weren't being reported properly throughout the year. The tool flagged exactly what to watch for and explained why the numbers might not match. When my W2 finally arrived, the difference was exactly what the tool predicted. Saved me from filing with incorrect numbers and probably getting a letter from the IRS later. Definitely more helpful than I expected for sorting out paystub vs W2 differences!
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Lindsey Fry
10 If you're tired of waiting for your W2, you might want to check out https://claimyr.com - I used them last year when my employer was super late sending my tax forms. I'd called the IRS multiple times trying to get help with my missing W2 but could never get through to an actual person. It was so frustrating! With Claimyr, I finally got connected to someone at the IRS who helped me file a complaint about my missing W2 and explained how to proceed with filing using substitute W2 information. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they hold your place in the IRS phone queue so you don't have to waste hours listening to hold music. I was able to get my taxes filed on time despite my employer's delay, and the IRS actually contacted my employer which made them send my W2 right away.
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Lindsey Fry
•21 Wait, how does this actually work? Do they just call the IRS for you or what? I've been on hold with the IRS for literally hours before giving up.
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Lindsey Fry
•19 This sounds like a scam. Why would I pay someone else to call the IRS when I can do it myself for free? And how do they magically get through when no one else can?
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Lindsey Fry
•10 They don't call for you - what they do is wait in the phone queue on your behalf. When an IRS agent picks up, you get a call connecting you directly. So you're still the one talking to the IRS, but you don't have to wait on hold for hours. I understand the skepticism, I felt the same way! But the IRS phone system is deliberately understaffed, and the average wait time was over 2 hours last filing season. What Claimyr does is use technology to monitor the hold music and then call you when a human actually answers. It's basically like having someone else sit on hold for you while you go about your day.
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Lindsey Fry
19 I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr being a scam. After waiting on hold with the IRS for 3+ hours and getting disconnected twice, I was desperate enough to try it. I got connected to an IRS agent in about 45 minutes without having to actually sit there listening to the hold music. The agent was super helpful about my missing W2 situation - turns out my employer had filed it with an incorrect address. The IRS representative sent a notice to my employer and explained exactly what information from my final paystub I could use to file my taxes in the meantime. Definitely saved me from having to postpone filing or submit an amendment later.
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Lindsey Fry
7 I work in payroll, and there's one important thing to keep in mind: your last paycheck might not include adjustments for taxable fringe benefits. Things like group term life insurance over $50k, personal use of company car, or certain bonus payments sometimes get added at year-end during W2 processing. Also, if you received any non-cash benefits throughout the year (like equity compensation or awards), those typically won't show on your regular paychecks but must be included on your W2.
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Lindsey Fry
•12 What about 401k contributions? My last paystub shows my total contributions for the year, but does the W2 report this differently? Really confused about where this should appear.
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Lindsey Fry
•7 Your 401k contributions are handled in a specific way on the W2. Your paystub will show your contributions, but on the W2, your Box 1 wages (taxable federal wages) will already be reduced by your pre-tax 401k contributions. The actual 401k contribution amount will typically appear in Box 12 with code D. So when comparing your paystub to your W2, remember that your W2 Box 1 should be lower than your gross wages by at least the amount of your 401k contributions (plus any other pre-tax deductions like health insurance).
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Lindsey Fry
3 Has anyone used TurboTax's W2 import feature? I'm wondering if I should just wait for my official W2 to use that or if I should manually enter everything from my paystub.
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Lindsey Fry
•15 Definitely wait for your official W2 to use the import feature. I tried entering from my paystub last year and ended up having to amend my return because of some differences with taxable benefits that weren't on my paystub. The import feature is super convenient but only works with the actual W2.
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