Form W-2: Preparing and filing for federal

You must:

• Provide W-2 forms to any active and inactive employee with 2016 wages by January 31, 2017.
• File your employees' W-2 forms with the Social Security Administration (SSA) by January 31, 2017 (electronic filing).

You can electronically file your W-2 forms through Intuit Online Payroll's Electronic Services at no extra charge. You don't need to enroll in Electronic Services to file Forms W-2 (and W-3 information) with the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Where does each copy of Form W-2 go?

Even when you electronically file federal W-2 forms with the SSA, you'll need to print and distribute copies to your employees and print copies for your own records. Here is some information about which copies go to the agency, to the employee, and to you (the employer).

Copy A	Social Security Administration (SSA)
Copy B	Employee (Filed with employee's federal tax return)
Copy C	Employee (Copy for employee's records)
Copy D	Employer (Copy for your records)
Copy 1	State, City, or Local tax department
Copy 2	Employee (Filed with employee's state, city, or local tax return)

File Form W-2 with the Social Security Administration (SSA)

Intuit Online Payroll allows you to electronically file Forms W-2 with the agency at no additional charge, even if you're not going to electronically file any other tax forms with us.

On January 1, a link will appear on your Intuit Online Payroll To Do list to file Forms W-2 electronically.

To electronically file Forms W-2 with the SSA:

1. Go here.
   (Or click the To Do tab.)

2. In the It's time to file forms section, click the W-2, Copies A & D link.
3. If prompted, verify your tax codes and then click Continue.
   
   We prefill the tax code field, so you don't need to look it up. You only need to do this once.
4. If prompted, tell us whether or not one or more employees were active participants in a retirement plan during the tax year and then click Continue.
   
   If you track contributions to retirement plans outside of Intuit Online Payroll, you'll need to manually select the Retirement Plan check box for each active participant.
5. On the Employer Copies: Form W-2 page, click View to open Acrobat Reader and review and print Copy D (employer's copy) for your records.
6. When you're ready click Submit to authorize us to file Copy A of Form W-2 electronically for you.
7. Print Copy D of Form W-2 for your records.

Do not send a printout of Form W-2 to the Social Security Administration.

8. On the status page, note the current status: Submitted.
   
   Your form has been submitted to us. Once we finish processing your filing, we'll send you an email letting you know it's complete. You can also check the status of your filing on the status page.

Why is my filing status Submitted or In Progress?

After you prepare your Forms W-2 and send the information to us, you may notice that the filing status in your Intuit Online Payroll account displays "Submitted" or "In Progress."

To make sure we have the latest agency information and make any necessary updates to your data, we start sending W-2 information in batches to the agency on January 20. The electronic Forms W-2 are due on January 31.

After we submit the W-2 information to the agency, the filing status will change to "Completed" and you'll receive an email notification.

You may also like

• Form W-3: If I file Copy A of Form W-2 electronically, do I also need to file Form W-3?
• Form W-2: Preparing and filing for your state
• Form W-2: Printing for employees

;w-2 ; w2 ; w-2 form ; w2 form ; w-2 forms ; w2 forms ; Form W-2 ; form; forms; T4 ; T4 form ; T4 forms ; Form T4 ; form ; forms ; RL1; Releve; RL-1; RL 1;

federal; SSA;Social Security Administration;employee;employer;copy;e-file;e-filing;efile;efiling;electronic file;electronic filing;online file;online filing;

ContactUsStill stuck? Contact us