When Will I Get My W-2 and What do I do if I Don’t Receive it?
updated 12/23/25
It’s the beginning of the year and you know your W-2 should be coming.
Where is it?
Every January companies are required to give W-2s to their employees to inform them of how much money they made that year and how much money was taken out for federal and state taxes, along with social security and medicare.
You need this document to file your annual tax return.
Employers are required by federal law to get the W-2s to their employees by January 31st.
What to do if you have not received your W-2 yet?
Check your calendar
The first thing that you should do is check your calendar. If it’s still a few days into February then it might be still in the mail. Your employer may have slipped it in the mailbox on January 31st so it wouldn’t get to you that day.
Check your email
The second thing that you should do is check your email. Some employers send W-2s electronically now instead of going to the trouble of mailing all of the W-2s to their employees. For security reasons, the employer wouldn’t send the actual document to you over email, they would send you a message to go to the employee portal or whatever kind of software you use to see your W-2. Check your junk mail and spam folders as well.
Contact your employer
The third thing you should do is contact your employer. If it’s well into February and you still haven’t received it in your email or mail, definitely contact your employer. The most likely reason you haven’t received it is because your address has been written down incorrectly and might have been undelivered. Or maybe you moved and your employer still has your old address. In either case, correct your address with your employer and have them send the W-2 again.
Contact the IRS
Fourthly, if you still haven’t received your W-2 and your employer is not getting you a new one because their company closed down, you can contact the IRS. The IRS will ask you for your name, address, SSN, etc so make sure you have that ready when you call them. The IRS will then contact your employer about your missing document.
File your taxes without a W-2
Fifth, if you don’t want to wait any longer for your W-2, you can file your taxes without it. Filing without your W-2 would take longer but it could be a better option if your company is taking too long to get your W-2. To file your taxes without your W-2 you will need to substitute it with Form 4852. This form will ask you to estimate your wages and taxes you believe have been withheld over the past year.
Ask for an extension
The final thing you can do is request more time to file your taxes if you decide to wait for your W-2 to come. You would just need to file Form 4868. This form will give you a 6-month extension to file your 1040. Be sure to file Form 4868 carefully because it gives you extra time to file your tax forms but not an extension on the taxes you will be paying so make sure your estimate is correct. You will need to pay penalties if you estimate wrong and pay less than needed.
Overall, make sure you file your taxes before the deadline which is April 15th, 2026 or if you asked for an extension it would be October 15th, 2026.
Written by Harley Houlden
Harley joined Superior Trucking Payroll Service in early 2019. Her main roles are Inbound sales, Implementation, and marketing. She loves the work atmosphere. “It feels like everyone here is a family. Even when we add someone new to the team, they just meld right in.”
Before joining STPS she worked at a local chain grocery store starting in 2013 as a cashier and by the time she left in 2019 was an assistant store director.