Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with w2

Wrong State on W-2

mto — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:01:50 -0800

My W-2 says I paid taxes to both Indiana and California. However, I did not live or work in Indiana at any time during the year 2007. How do I go about getting this fixed? I already have a call into my HR department and they said there's currently a 3-day turn around on answering questions. So while I wait for them I thought I'd ask Metafilter and ensure I at least know what to expect.

This is the deal. In 2006 I lived in Indiana for a couple of months before moving to California. For my 2006 taxes (i.e. those I filed by April 15th of 20007) I paid taxes to both IN and CA. This is to be expected and all went fine.

For the entire 2007 year I lived and worked in CA and I've had the same job I had in 2006. My company uses a website to manage most HR things and I updated my address / personal information back in 2006. So there's no reason for them to believe I live in IN.

On my W-2 this year it shows me paying 3k in taxes to IN and 3k in taxes to CA. This 3k to CA is about 2k short of what I was supposed to pay to CA, so I owe CA right now.

Who do I call to get this fixed? What are the right steps? I imagine I need to get my employer to admit the mistake and issue a corrected W-2. However, how do I go about getting my money back from IN? I looked at the tax forms for Indiana non-residents and I don't think they apply to my situation.

I guess I'm just curious to know how this is supposed to go down and get fixed and who I need to involve to get it fixed. Since I have a 3-day turn around time on talking w/ my HR department I was hoping to go into the conversation a bit more informed and hopefully cut down on phone tag.

I hear some people pay taxes. Not me though. Oh, damn.

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:16:50 -0800

I haven't filed (US and NJ) taxes in... hm. Possibly ever. I'd like to fix that, but have no idea what I made and when, and how to start. Problem is, I'm not sure what I have and haven't filed. And I certainly don't have any W2s or such. And I have no sense of time, so I'm not sure where I worked and in what years. I shouldn't need to go back more than a decade .... Is there a way to get all that from the IRS? I'm pretty sure I WOULD have gotten money back all these years, so I shouldn't be in too much trouble for dodging, I'd hope. Oh, I suck.

(As a side note, this may be iffy in terms of needing anonymous, but my username is my real name, and I'd rather not have this amazingly stupid lack of follow-thru come up in a Google search by current or future employers or the like. I'm user 17389.)

Very late W-2

Snyder — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:00:29 -0800

My employer has not given me my W-2. I've contacted the IRS, and gotten a substitute form that I have to fill out myself, but since I was never given paystubs, (tax information was usually written on the paycheck itself, and, being silly.lazy, I didn't photocopy my checks,) I have to guess at the amount I owe. I'm also concerned about filing for Arizona income tax, but when I called them they said I don't need a W-2, which dosen't make much sense. I've gotten the run-around from my employer (the company owner,) with her blaming the accountant. I want my W-2, but I also think they deserve some sort of punishment/sanction for this. What can I do?

Should my wife and I (with drastically different incomes ) file taxes together or seperate?

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:00:29 -0800

TaxFilter: My wife and I have drastically different incomes. She made about $45K this year and I only made about $15K, mostly from freelance gigs, so no taxes were paid. Should we file jointly or married but filing separately? I have my own business so I have deductions for travel and some equipment purchases. However, my income is so low I am not sure if they will matter much.

So is it better if we use my income to drag down the average between us or should I file myself since I basically have paid almost no taxes?

The only job that has taken out taxes for me is a consulting firm that took $400 in Federal Income and $415 in social security tax on $6700 in income. So that leaves almost $10K with no tax paid.

I should also mention I recently moved to NJ so basically no state tax was taken out at all (I think I have paid about $20 in state income tax from a part time hourly job in Dec). However, my car and drivers license are still based in Florida, but my address I will be filing the insurance will be NJ. How does this affect things?

I need to get copies of my W2 and Tax Returns, Help!

genial — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:25:38 -0800

We're applying for a home loan and suddenly need all those tax documents we probably should have held on to. What to do? Specifically we need the last 3 years of W2s as well as Tax Returns. Can copies be requested from the IRS? Would I go to previous employers for them? What exactly are our options?