Include any and all income on your return when filing your taxes. Employers will normally send out Form(s) W-2 by January 31st. If you don't receive your Form W-2 by January 31st, or your information is incorrect, you will need to contact your employer.

If you don't receive the missing or corrected form from your employer by February 14th, contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. The IRS will ask for the following so they can request the form from your employer:

1. Your name, address (including zip code) and phone number
2. Your Social Security Number (SSN)
3. Your dates of employment
4. Your employer's name, address (including zip code) and phone number

The IRS will contact the employer and request the missing form. They will also send you Federal Form 4852 Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, or Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc.  If you then do not receive a Form W-2 from the employer in sufficient time to file timely, you may file a paper return using Form 4852 to report the wages.

Note. Per the IRS instructions, any return containing Form 4852 cannot be electronically filed.

If you later receive a Form W-2, after your return is filed using substitute information, and the information differs from the information reported on your return, you must file an amended return on Form 1040X Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.

While the TaxAct program does not contain Form 4852, you can still use the program to file your return. Unfortunately, as the IRS does not allow e-filing of Form 4852, a paper return must be mailed to the IRS. Attach a copy of Form 4852 with the return.

To enter the information from Form 4852 into your return:

TaxAct Q&A Interview for a missing Form W-2:

1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal. On smaller devices, click the menu icon in the upper left-hand corner, then select Federal
2. Click Wages and Salaries  in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand the category and then click Wage income reported on Form W-2
3. Click New Copy of Form W-2 (Desktop users click Add) to create a new copy of the form or click Review to review a form already created 
4. Click Quick Entry or Step-by-Step Guidance to enter or review.
   1. If you select Quick Entry be sure to scroll down to answer all applicable questions.
   2. If you select Step-by-Step Guidance, the program will proceed with the interview questions.

TaxAct Q&A Interview for a missing Form 1099-R:

1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click Federal. On smaller devices, click the menu icon in the upper left-hand corner, then select Federal
2. Click Retirement Plan Income  in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand the category and then click IRA, 401(k) and Pension Plan Distributions - (Form 1099-R)
3. Click New Copy of Form 1099-R (Desktop users click Add) to create a new copy of the form or click Review to review a form already created 
4. Click Quick Entry or Step-by-Step Guidance to enter or review.
   1. If you select Quick Entry be sure to scroll down to answer all applicable questions.
   2. If you select Step-by-Step Guidance, the program will proceed with the interview questions.

Once the information regarding the substitute form is entered in the program and the remainder of the return is complete, print and mail the return attaching a copy of the manually completed Form 4852 with the return.

You may wish to review IRS Tax Topic 154 Form W-2 and Form 1099-R (What to Do if Not Received) for additional information.