The W-2 Form is used to report wages paid and taxes withheld. Officially recognized as the Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, employers must complete one for every employee that receives wage, salary, or other payment as a result of work performed.

These forms must be delivered to every employee on or before the thirty-first of January of each calendar year so that early tax filers may have access to this important document, essential for claiming refunds or paying any money owed.

Multiple, and most likely thoroughly redundant, W-2 forms will be sent to those workers whose conditions of employment involve tasks performed in more than one state. Some employers will simply print multiple rows of states on all copies of the W-2 sent out. Others generate W-2s that attribute gross compensation twice, once for every state, possibly causing clerical difficulties in the process.

The copies that employees really see, which they receive in the mail every year ahead of tax season, is but a few of several that make up the complete Form W-2. One is labeled Copy 2, to be filed along with the state and local income tax returns, if any. Copies B and C are also sent, for purposes of federal income tax returns and personal records, respectively.

Copy 1 is submitted by the employer towards the state or nearby taxing authority, as mandated by law (which some jurisdictions don’t need). Copy A goes to the Social Security Administration. Copy D is for the employer’s own records.

The anatomy of a W-2 Form can be quite interesting. On it are recorded everything earned for the year, which often feels like quite a surprise to many, regrettably! So many taxes…and yet it is almost fun to see precisely how much goes to what, whether for Medicare or Social Security or the 401K.