Worked at The Cheesecake Factory for 2 months, made under $2,500. Quit in December, no W-2 yet. What now??

If you haven't received your W-2 by now, you definitely shouldn't keep waiting. By law, employers must provide W-2s by January 31st, so they're already late. You have a few options: First, try contacting the payroll department directly instead of the restaurant. Large chains like Cheesecake Factory often have centralized payroll systems. Ask for the corporate payroll contact information from your former manager. If that doesn't work, you can contact the IRS directly. They can reach out to the employer on your behalf. Call the IRS at 800-829-1040 with your personal info, employer details, employment dates, and an estimate of your wages and taxes withheld. As a last resort, you can file Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2) with your tax return. You'll need to estimate your wages and withholding as accurately as possible. If you have final pay stubs, those will help tremendously with creating accurate estimates.

I had a similar situation last year with a different restaurant chain. After weeks of getting nowhere, I used this AI tool called taxr.ai that helped me figure out exactly what to do. It analyzed my pay stubs and helped me complete the substitute W-2 form correctly. I just uploaded my last pay stub to https://taxr.ai and it extracted all the information I needed to file my taxes without waiting for the W-2 to arrive. It also gave me step-by-step instructions for following up with the IRS about the missing form. Honestly saved me so much stress and time!

Just wanted to update everyone - I was skeptical about taxr.ai but decided to try it after waiting another week with no W-2. It was actually super helpful! I uploaded my last two pay stubs and it pulled all the numbers I needed for the substitute form. The interface walked me through everything step by step, and even provided instructions for reaching out to the IRS. I was able to file my taxes last weekend and already got notification that my return was accepted. Feeling a huge relief now instead of stressing about the missing W-2!

If you're still having trouble getting your W-2 after trying the other suggestions, you might want to try Claimyr. I was in a similar situation last year and needed to speak directly with someone at the IRS, but kept hitting those infamous hold times that go on for hours. Claimyr basically handled the waiting on hold part for me. You can check it out at https://claimyr.com - they have a demo video at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c showing how it works. They called the IRS for me, waited through the hold time, and then called me once they had an actual human on the line. The IRS agent was super helpful and initiated contact with my former employer right away. Had my W-2 issue resolved within days rather than weeks of frustration.

Thought I should follow up about Claimyr since I was skeptical in my earlier comment. I finally broke down and tried it after spending three separate afternoons trying to get through to the IRS myself with no luck. It actually worked exactly as described! I got a call back about 1.5 hours after starting the process, and was connected directly to an IRS representative. Didn't have to listen to a single minute of hold music. The agent helped me file a formal complaint about my missing W-2 and I received it in the mail a week later. For anyone dealing with missing tax documents and hitting walls with their former employer, being able to actually speak with the IRS without the hold time frustration was truly a game-changer.

You might also check if your W-2 is available electronically. Many bigger companies like Cheesecake Factory use payroll services like ADP or Paychex where you can log in and download your tax forms. Did they set you up with any kind of employee portal when you started working there?

Just a heads up - even if you made under $2,500, you still need to report that income! Some people think there's a minimum threshold where you don't need to report income, but that's not true for W-2 income.

I went through something similar with a restaurant job a couple years back. One thing that really helped was checking if they had deposited any tax withholdings on my behalf. Even though you made under $2,500, if they withheld federal or state taxes from your paychecks, you'll want to make sure you get credit for those withholdings when you file. Look at your pay stubs to see if there were any deductions for federal income tax, Social Security, or Medicare. If there were, you're definitely entitled to get that money back as a refund, but you'll need either the W-2 or to file Form 4852 to claim it. Also, don't forget that as a server, you probably had tip income that should be reported too. The restaurant should include your reported tips on the W-2, but if you consistently under-reported tips during the year, you might need to account for that separately on your return.