INQUIRY 18-04, Delivery of the 2018 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement
Published: November 15, 2018
Effective: January 2019
Summary
In January 2019, the 2018 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, will be mailed to the employee's residence address as recorded in the Payroll/Personnel System (PPS).
Employees have the option to elect to receive (and print) their W-2 electronically via the Employee Personal Page (EPP). Also, employees will be able to import their 2018 W-2 information into TurboTax or At Home.
Implementation
The data on the W-2 includes salary payments for Pay Period 25, 2017, (or the pay period of implementation into PPS) through Pay Period 25, 2018, inclusive. The W-2 will also include any manual payments processed after Pay Period 25, 2018, through December 28, 2018. Employees who worked during the tax year for more than one organization serviced by the National Finance Center (NFC) will receive a W-2 containing the total wages paid by NFC for all organizations. The W-2 will be issued under the name of the current employing organization.
Agencies are encouraged to remind their employees to verify that their residence address is correct and make any changes prior to the processing of the W-2s. If an address is not recorded in PPS, the employee's W-2 will be mailed to their Agency.
Employee Indebtedness
To comply with IRS regulations, employees who have not repaid an indebtedness (e.g., salary overpayment) incurred during calendar year 2018 will have the outstanding debt included as taxable wages on their W-2s. The outstanding debt is subject to Federal and State (if applicable) income tax. Any debt payments received between December 19 and December 31, 2018, could result in a Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement, being issued at a later date.
Electronically Delivered Version of the W-2
IRS provides employees the option to file their tax return with a printout of an electronically delivered version of their W-2 for tax year 2018. Employees who are established users of NFC's EPP can print this electronic version of the W-2 for tax year 2018 (via NFC's Web site at ) for submission with their tax return. The 2018 W-2s will be available in EPP in January 2019.
TurboTax/At Home
In addition to printing their W-2 from EPP, employees will also be able to import their 2018 W-2 information into TurboTax or At Home. NFC has worked with the software providers to make their products interoperable with EPP. For more information on TurboTax, see INQUIRY Bulletin 18-03, IRS Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, Available for Use with TurboTax or At Home.
Maintaining W-2 Data
Although W-2 history data for tax years 1998 and forward is available to the employee in EPP, and to Agencies via Reporting Center, only 2 years of W-2 data history is available in the W-2 Online Processing System. The W-2 data for tax year 2016 was moved to history in October 2018 and is no longer available to be viewed by Agencies. In mid-January, Agencies will be able to view W-2 data for tax years 2017 and 2018.
Inquiries and W-2 Reprints
If some employees do not receive W-2s when they are initially mailed, it may have been determined that these W-2s require adjustments (e.g., relocation travel payments). The appropriate adjustments will be completed by January 31, 2019, and the W-2s will be sent to the employees upon completion. Employees should use their EPP to check their W-2 data.
All current and former employees of Agencies serviced by NFC must request W-2 reprints from their respective Servicing Personnel Office. When Agencies receive requests from current employees for W-2 reprints, they are encouraged to advise employees to utilize EPP. Agencies are also encouraged to utilize the full suite of available reports on the Reporting Center. Agency representatives without current Reporting Center access (or without access to the W-2, Wage and Tax Statement report) should submit a request for access via their Agency Security Officer.
Resources
A Quick Reference Card (QRC), which is available online as a reference tool at NFC's Web site, can assist with accessing EPP, user identification availability, and password assistance.
Inquiries
For questions about NFC processing, authorized Servicing Personnel Office representatives should contact the NFC Contact Center at or via the customer service portal.