Accounting Portal

Tax Resources for Accountants and Small Businesses (U.S.)

Employer W-2 Filing Resources

You must register to use Business Services Online – Social Security’s suite of services that allows you to file W-2/W-2Cs online and verify your employees’ names and Social Security numbers against our records.

This service offers fast, free, and secure online W-2 filing options to CPAs, accountants, enrolled agents, and individuals who process W-2s (the Wage and Tax Statement) and W-2Cs (Statement of Corrected Income and Tax Amounts).

The Social Security Number Verification Service allows employers to verify the names and Social Security numbers of current and former employees for wage reporting purposes only.

 

Forms W-2/W-3 Instructions

Specifications for Filing Forms W-2 and W-2c Electronically (EFW2/EFW2C)

Electronic W-2/W-2c Filing Handbook

Social Security has a free electronic filing option available for small businesses that allows you to prepare and submit up to 20 W-2s (per report) over a
secure Internet service. When you register to file electronically, here’s what you get:
Freedom from buying paper forms;
W-2s for your employees and for your records;
Electronic receipts you can use as proof that you filed on time;
andUntil March 31 to file

Helpful Hints to Electronic W-2c/W-3c Filing

  • File Forms W-2c (Corrected Wage and Tax Statement) and W-3c (Transmittal of Corrected Wage and Tax Statement) as soon as possible after you discover an error. Also, provide a Form W-2c to the employee as soon as possible.
  • To correct a Form W-2 you have already submitted, file a Form W-2c with a separate Form W-3c for each year needing correction.
  • File a Form W-3c whenever you file a Form W-2c, even if you are only filing a Form W-2c to correct an employee’s name or Social Security number (SSN).
  • Follow the General Instructions for Forms W-2c/W-3c.
  • If you use your own software to prepare and submit paper Forms W-2c, follow the instructions in Social Security’s Information for Software Developers.
  • If you expect to file 250 or more W-2cs during a calendar year, you are now required to file them electronically. (W-2cs for years before 2002 are not counted for purposes of the new threshold.) Submitters must follow the formatting specifications in Social Security’s Specifications for Filing Forms W-2 Electronically (EFW2). If you believe the 250 threshold requirements (published in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Pub. 1223) will create a hardship, contact the IRS Employer Call Site in Martinsburg, West Virginia, toll-free at (866) 455-7438 about the possibility of a waiver.
  • If any item shows a dollar amount change and one of the amounts is zero, enter “-0-“. Do not leave the box blank.
  • If you reported your EIN incorrectly, please file a W-3c to correct it.
  • Make sure you use the Employer Identification Number (EIN) issued by IRS on all Forms W-2c/W-3c. Note: The same EIN number should be used on the Form 941-x, Supporting Statement to Correction Information, when applicable.
  • When you discover an error on a previously filed Form 941, you must:
    • Correct that error using Form 941-X;
    • File a separate Form 941-X for each Form 941 you are correcting;
      and
    • File a Form 941-X separately. Do not file a Form 941-X with a Form 941.

 

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