INQUIRY 21-08, Availability of the 2021 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement

Published: December 17, 2021
Effective: Pay Period 26, 2021

Summary

In January 2022, the 2021 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, will be mailed to the residence address of the employee as recorded in the Payroll/Personnel System (PPS).

Agencies may access and print W-2s via the Reporting Center. The 2021 W-2s will be available under the Financial Reports menu.

In Pay Period 02, 2022, employees will have the option to receive (and print) their W-2 electronically via the Employee Personal Page (EPP). Employees will also be able to import their 2021 W-2 information into TurboTax.

Implementation

The data on the W-2 includes salary payments for Pay Period (PP) 26, 2020, (or the pay period of implementation into PPS) through PP 25, 2021, inclusive. The W-2 will also include all 2021 manual payments processed through December 28, 2021. 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 a residence address is not recorded in PPS, the W-2 will be mailed to the employee's Agency.

Agencies are also encouraged to remind employees who have had a residence address or duty station change to verify that their State tax documents have been updated, and the correct State taxes are being withheld. Any adjustments should have been submitted via the Web-based Special Payroll Processing System (SPPS Web) prior to November 24, 2021, to be processed prior to the 2021 Form W-2 issuance. Any adjustments received after this date may result in a 2021 Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement.

Employee Indebtedness

To comply with IRS regulations, an employee who has not repaid their indebtedness (e.g., salary overpayment) incurred during calendar year 2021 will have the outstanding debt included as taxable wages on their W-2. The outstanding debt is subject to Federal and State (if applicable) income tax. Any debt payments received between December 15 and December 31, 2021, may result in a Form W-2c 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 2021. Employees who are established users of NFC's EPP can print this electronic version of the W-2 for tax year 2021 (via NFC's Web site at www.nfc.usda.gov), for submission with their tax return. The 2021 W-2 will be available in EPP in January 2022.

Note: Employees will be able to change how their W-2 and Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Insurance are received (electronically or by mail) from EPP between PP 01 through PP 24 of a calendar year. This option will not be available after PP 24 of a calendar year.

Note: Employees who are not current EPP users (or need a new user identification (ID) or password) can locate the sign-up instructions under My EPP, which is available on the Application Launchpad of the NFC Web site.

TurboTax

TurboTax allows employees who use TurboTax to access their W-2 information directly from those applications. When signing into TurboTax, employees will be prompted to enter their Social Security number (SSN) and gross salary as displayed on the 2021 W-2.

Maintaining W-2 Data

Although W-2 history data for tax year 2010 and forward is available to the employee in EPP, and 1998 and forward is available to Agencies via Reporting Center, only two (2) years of W-2 data history is available in the W-2 Online Processing System (WTWOINQ). The W-2 data for tax year 2019 was moved to history in October 2021, and is no longer available to be viewed online by Agencies. In mid-January, Agencies will be able to view W-2 data for tax years 2020 and 2021.

Inquiries and W-2 Reprints

If an employee does not receive a W-2 when it is initially mailed, it may have been determined that the W-2 requires adjustments. The appropriate adjustments will be completed by January 31, 2022, and the W-2 will be sent to the employee upon completion. Employees should use EPP to check 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 in 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 1-855-NFC-4GOV (1-855-632-4468) or via the customer service portal at ServiceNow Portal for Federated Users and at ServiceNow Portal for Non-Federated Users.