quick question about w-2s

[surfergirl602]

A friend of mine just had to amend her taxes and pay a fee because her former employer failed to mail her her w-2 on time. It was just mailed a little over a week ago. Isn't it law that it has to be mailed by Jan. 31st? Is there anything she can do about this? Or the fee?

 

[msmayor]

What 'fee' did she have to pay? There's no fee for amending a tax return.

She may have had to make an additional tax payment, but that's not something that is the employer's fault.

How did she complete her original return without a W-2? If she did not receive a W-2 at all then she can file a complaint. If she received a W-2 on time but now her employer sent her a corrected one which she needed to use to file the amended return, there's nothing wrong with that either.

 

[sydneysmom]

Was she filing an older tax return ? ( who charged her the fee??) Yes, by law the W2's had to be mailed out by February 1, 2010 (because Jan 31 was a Sunday). If your friends employer did mail it, but her address was incorrect, that is not the fault of the employer. it's up to the employee to provide the correct address..... if that's the case and it was the employer who charged a fee to reissue the W2, then yes, it's well within the employer's rights to impose a fee. If it was the IRS that imposed a fee for a late W2, I don't see how they would know this considering tax day isn't for 2 more days..... she's not late filing her taxes because of a W2.
The other thing is, if your friend filed her taxes without her W2 form, she did so at her own risk because there are things on your W2 that have to be accounted for such as pre-tax deductions, medical, 401K, etc. You didn't say who charged her the fee for a late mailed W2. If her employer DID mail it, but to an incorrect address and they reissued the W2 last week, then it's not the fault of the employer. The employee needs to make certain their address is current. (even with a past employer if you are getting a W2.)
Personally, I've been on the W2 side ....that's my job. We charge our associates that aren't with the company any longer to reissue their W2. If you move, we have no way of knowing that unless you tell us. We can only mail it to the address we have on file....if the post office doesn't deliver it or forward it, we don't have any control over the Post Office. So it's hard to stay on top of getting a W2 delivered.

 

[surfergirl602]

Was she filing an older tax return ? ( who charged her the fee??) Yes, by law the W2's had to be mailed out by February 1, 2010 (because Jan 31 was a Sunday). If your friends employer did mail it, but her address was incorrect, that is not the fault of the employer. it's up to the employee to provide the correct address..... if that's the case and it was the employer who charged a fee to reissue the W2, then yes, it's well within the employer's rights to impose a fee. If it was the IRS that imposed a fee for a late W2, I don't see how they would know this considering tax day isn't for 2 more days..... she's not late filing her taxes because of a W2.
The other thing is, if your friend filed her taxes without her W2 form, she did so at her own risk because there are things on your W2 that have to be accounted for such as pre-tax deductions, medical, 401K, etc. You didn't say who charged her the fee for a late mailed W2. If her employer DID mail it, but to an incorrect address and they reissued the W2 last week, then it's not the fault of the employer. The employee needs to make certain their address is current. (even with a past employer if you are getting a W2.)
Personally, I've been on the W2 side ....that's my job. We charge our associates that aren't with the company any longer to reissue their W2. If you move, we have no way of knowing that unless you tell us. We can only mail it to the address we have on file....if the post office doesn't deliver it or forward it, we don't have any control over the Post Office. So it's hard to stay on top of getting a W2 delivered.

I'm not sure - she asked me because my hubby was JAG and always worked the tax center every year.

Here's what she wrote: Thank you Polk County School Board for forcing me to file a tax amendment b/c YOU can't mail a W-2 on time!!! I'd like to charge you $119.00 dollars as an IRS fee!

She said this is the only one she received, and its very very late. She files her taxes already because of her husband's pay. That's all I know.

Thanks for the info.

 

[sydneysmom]

there's something that she's not telling you because the IRS isn't going to charge a fee for an amended return. Chances are, she didn't put something on her tax return that WAS on her W2 and it caused her to owe more in tax.
Which as msmayor said, is not the employer's fault. I think she might be ticked that she owed some taxes. ( aren't we all ???)

Off topic, I just want to thank your husband for his service to our country....and thank you for standing beside him while he protects all of us !! He's a hero.

 

[SYDCOLEMOM]

it is possible to have more than one W2. My husband is a contractor and this year he had over a dozen W2's . The employer can face fines for not mailing your W2 on time but you are still required to amend your return and pay any owed taxes on that money (if you havent already)

 

[msmayor]

I'm not sure - she asked me because my hubby was JAG and always worked the tax center every year.

Here's what she wrote: Thank you Polk County School Board for forcing me to file a tax amendment b/c YOU can't mail a W-2 on time!!! I'd like to charge you $119.00 dollars as an IRS fee!

She said this is the only one she received, and its very very late. She files her taxes already because of her husband's pay. That's all I know.

Thanks for the info.

I'd be curious as to why she didn't contact the Polk County School Board way back when she was working on her taxes to find out where it was.

Anyone I've ever known realizes that a W-2 is necessary to complete your taxes, and knows when an employer owes one. If I hadn't received my W-2 by February 4, I'd have been on the phone asking for it.

 

[FourBees]

Its possible that if she had someone do her taxes for her instead of herself then there would be a fee. I remember one year we had to do one and we had someone preparing our taxes and of course there was a fee.

 

[surfergirl602]

Thanks everyone. Apparently it was for her husband, and he's deployed right now, so she knew nothing of it when she filed the taxes. She says the IRS is charging her the fee to add his w-2. it was for a small amount he was owed before he joined the military, I guess. And of course, H/R block is charging her a fee, as well.

 

[Tina]

As stated before by others, IRS does not charge anyone a "fee" to amend a return, so your friend is lying about what she is really pay for. IRS collects taxes, interest, and late fees. Since its not yet the 15th, the only thing IRS can "charge" her is the tax due. However, I do see why she would have to pay H&R Block to prepare her amendment. Its another return they have to prepare for her. It sounds to me like your friend and her husband need to keep better records so they know when all of their paperwork is in.

 

[surfergirl602]

Off topic, I just want to thank your husband for his service to our country....and thank you for standing beside him while he protects all of us !! He's a hero.

Thank you.

 

[Ericandjenng]

As stated before by others, IRS does not charge anyone a "fee" to amend a return, so your friend is lying about what she is really pay for. IRS collects taxes, interest, and late fees. Since its not yet the 15th, the only thing IRS can "charge" her is the tax due.

I agree! I had to file an amended return last year...for missing a tax credit--so I got more back. The IRS did not charge me anything and actually said that I would get a check instead of Direct Deposit for the additional amount but it was direct deposited anyway.