W-2 MIA! SOS!

April 14, 2010 8:01 PM

Girlfriend hasn't filed taxes yet. Her W-2 for Unemployment is missing, but she withheld the max amount. What do we do?

She's got all her other relevant W-2s. However, as a former admin assistant for Washington Mutual who was laid off in February, her unemployment was a big chunk of her income.

I would not be surprised if the form went missing due to either housemate error or something like it.

What form do we file? I'm sure she won't wind up paying, but I don't want her to lose out on her refund.

posted by scaryblackdeath to work & money (9 answers total)

4868 extension. should have one at the post office. if she won't owe, no problem. then you have until august 15 to find the w2 and file.
posted by toodleydoodley at 8:02 PM on April 14, 2010

You may be able to do the extension online, too. IRS.gov
posted by MexicanYenta at 8:06 PM on April 14, 2010

File for an extension. You can do this online, by phone, or mail. You only have to worry if you owe money (in which case you need to pay it by April 15th, but have up to 6 months to file the paperwork).
posted by Susurration at 8:09 PM on April 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

For unemployment insurance benefits you get a 1099G in the mail. In my state, you can download it online. I would imagine the other 49 states would also have that information online as well.
posted by birdherder at 8:14 PM on April 14, 2010

n^thing file an extension, and then request a duplicate W-2 from the employer.

Also, Turbotax has an option to get your W-2 payroll info directly - no idea how this works, but I assume they have some way of communicating with big payroll providers. IIRC they've never had any of my employers though.
posted by zippy at 8:40 PM on April 14, 2010

Sorry, instead of "employer" above I should have said "state."
posted by zippy at 8:41 PM on April 14, 2010

In NY State (and possibly/probably other states), you have to mail in a paper form to get a copy of the 1099G. I almost had to do this before I found it yesterday. (I had to collect a bit last year too.)

Mine looks like a letter, almost - it doesn't look like the typical tax form. If you still can't find it after going through the piles of papers (I can't be the only one with piles), file the extension, get the 1099, do the taxes, no biggie.

Zippy - Turbotax does work directly with the payroll companies - ADP, Paychex, etc. Not sure if they do this with government stuff.
posted by AlisonM at 8:56 PM on April 14, 2010

I figured there was an extension, I just wasn't sure what form it was. Thanks much for the help, everyone.

Regarding replacement of the W-2: we're in Washington state.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:01 PM on April 14, 2010

I was also able to get the 1099G for my unemployment online in my state.

If she is in Washington like you, here is the relevant website.
posted by chiababe at 9:01 PM on April 14, 2010