General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 2025 Internal Revenue Service

Use the IRS Form W-4 to tell your employer how much federal income tax to withhold from your paycheck. Providing accurate information on your W-9 form ensures your income is reported correctly. You should fill in any codes that apply to your being exempt from backup withholding or from Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) reporting. The form is filled out by independent contractors who provide services to companies that have not hired them as full-time employees.

If not, the IRS will treat your LLC as part of your personal taxes. If your business is an LLC, only check the box if you’ve elected to be taxed as a corporation or partnership. It tells your employer how much tax to withhold from your paycheck.

Who Must Provide Form W-8BEN

If you don’t return a completed Form W-9 when asked, the payer must withhold 24% of any future payments. Failing to complete the W-9 form correctly can result in fines and tax issues for both the payee and the payer. Also, if you’re a partnership, trust, or LLC with any foreign owners or beneficiaries, you’ll need to check the new box on Line 3.

Report all amounts paid or incurred (regardless of any employee forfeitures), including those in excess of the $5,000 exclusion. Include the fair market value (FMV) of care in a daycare facility provided or sponsored by you for your employee and amounts paid or incurred for dependent care assistance in a section 125 (cafeteria) plan. Show the total dependent care benefits under a dependent care assistance program (section 129) paid or incurred by you for your employee. Do not include this amount in box 1, 3, 5, or 7. See the Instructions for Form 8027, Employer’s Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips.

The beneficial owners of income paid to a foreign simple trust (that is, a foreign trust that is described in section 651(a)) are generally the beneficiaries of the trust, if the beneficiary is not a foreign partnership, foreign simple or grantor trust, nominee, or other agent. The beneficial owners of income paid to a foreign partnership are generally the partners in the partnership, provided that the partner is not itself a partnership, foreign simple or grantor trust, nominee, or other agent. Foreign partnerships, foreign simple trusts, and foreign grantor trusts are not the beneficial owners of income paid to the partnership or trust. Generally, an amount subject to chapter 3 withholding is an amount from sources within the United States that is fixed or determinable annual or periodical (FDAP) income (including such an amount on a PTP distribution except as indicated otherwise).

Reconciling Forms W-2, W-3, 941, 943, 944, CT-1, and Schedule H (Form

For Forms W-9 that are not required to be signed, the electronic system need not provide for an electronic signature or a perjury statement. A payee is the holder of the account except if there is a QI, or a foreign person acting as agent or intermediary for a payment. In the cases below, the following person must be the one that provides the Form W-9 to the payor for purposes of establishing its non-foreign status. Advise foreign persons to use the appropriateForm W-8 or Form 8233, Exemption From Withholding on Compensation for Independent (and Certain Dependent) Personal Services of a Nonresident Alien Individual.

You would’ve been issued this number if you filed a U.S. federal tax return and didn’t have an SSN. You want to file a tax return for the income you earned in the United States that year. The IRS won’t use the address you enter to update its records for other purposes unless you include a U.S. federal tax return with your Form W-7. If you check this box to claim an exception under the benefits of a U.S. income tax treaty with a foreign country, you must also check box h. If you check this box to claim the benefits of a U.S. income tax treaty with a foreign country, you must also check box h. Certain nonresident aliens must get an ITIN to claim certain tax treaty benefits even if they don’t have to file a U.S. federal tax return.

Exception 4. Dispositions by a foreign person of U.S. real property interest—third-party withholding.

These forms have been updated for the new OMB Number and certain editorial changes were also made to the forms. “If you wait until the end of the year, you may have too little tax withheld which will result in a tax bill when you file.” Life happens and your tax withholding may not be accurate if your circumstances shift significantly during the year. “Answer the questions accurately and you’ll be fine,” Weisberg says, “but use the IRS withholding estimator if you’re unsure or talk to a tax professional.” You can also use this step to let your employer know that you want additional income withheld. This information establishes your standard deduction and tax rate.

Payment and Returns of Tax Withheld

If you paid your employee’s share of the taxes, see Employee’s social security and Medicare taxes (or railroad retirement taxes, if applicable) paid by employer . If you paid your employee’s share of taxes, see Employee’s social security and Medicare taxes (or railroad retirement taxes, if applicable) paid by employer . Be sure to enter tips that the employee reported even if you did not have enough employee funds to collect the Medicare tax for those tips. If you paid your employee’s share, see Employee’s social security and Medicare taxes (or railroad retirement taxes, if applicable) paid by employer .

• Any other reportable payment, such as nonemployee compensation, is subject to backup withholding immediately, even if the payee has applied for and is awaiting a TIN.
• The time needed to complete and file this form will vary depending on individual circumstances.
• Enter the number shown on the employee’s social security card.
• If the excess payments are considered to be wages, report the 20% excise tax withheld as income tax withheld in box 2.
• Employers are responsible for ensuring that Forms W-2 are furnished to employees and that Forms W-2 and W-3 are filed with the SSA correctly and on time, even if the employer contracts with a third party to perform these acts.
• Box f—Employee’s previously reported SSN.

Employees must know that if they provide information about numerous credits related to their children and dependents, their paychecks will be bigger while the amount of potential refunds may decrease. This document was released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in , rendering older editions of the form obsolete. 2003-9, which is on page 516 of Internal Revenue Bulletin , available at IRS.gov/pub/irs-irbs/irb03-08.pdf. (See Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Matching next.) If you receive a backup withholding notice, you may have to send a “B” notice to the payee to solicit another TIN. M. A tax-exempt trust under a section 403(b) plan or section 457(g) plan. L. A trust exempt from tax under section 664 or described in section 4947; or

Form W-4: What It Is and How to File

For more information about HSAs, see Form 8889, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and Pub. For plan year 2025, a cafeteria plan may not allow an employee to request salary reduction contributions for a health FSA in excess of $3,300 (as indexed for inflation). Also show the amount in box 12 with code C.

Extension of time to file Forms W-2 with the SSA.

Employee contributions are deductible, within limits, on the employee’s Form 1040 or 1040-SR. Each Form W-2 should reflect the EIN of the agent in box b. For information about verifying SSNs, see section 4 of Pub. Go to Social security numbers , earlier, for more information. Do not truncate an employee’s SSN on Copy A of Forms W-2.

• Companies who use non-employees to perform work for them must send the W-9 to these workers, and the workers must return the completed form to the companies.
• If you file Forms W-2c and W-3c on paper, make all entries using dark or black ink in 12-point Courier font, if possible, and make sure all copies are legible.
• You may provide certification instructions on a substitute Form W-9 in a manner similar to the official form.
• For additional withholding and reporting provisions applicable to QIs under chapters 3 and 4, see Rev. Proc.
• An AA can help you complete and file Form W-7.
• If the previous SSN was reported as blanks or not available, then box f should be all zeros.

Form W-8BEN-E is also titled “Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting,” but it is filed by foreign entities, not individuals. Form W-8BEN is used by foreign individuals who receive nonbusiness income in the U.S., whereas W-8BEN-E is used by foreign entities who receive this type of income. You must submit the form regardless of whether you are claiming a reduced withholding.

General Instructions

A CAA can verify original documentation and certified copies of the documentation from the issuing agency for primary and secondary applicants and their dependents, except for foreign military identification cards. An AA can help you complete and file Form W-7. These documents will be returned to you immediately. When requesting an ITIN for a deceased taxpayer, the deceased must meet all of the requirements established to get an ITIN. For your convenience, you can access fillable Form W-7 at IRS.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf, complete, print, then sign the Form W-7.

Employers must adjust your withholding amounts in the first paycheck you receive 30 days on or after you submit a revised form. Maybe you have more than one job or you’re married and plan to file a joint tax return with your spouse and your spouse also works. This exemption applies only to income taxes, not to Medicare and Social Security taxes. “It helps to make sure that the tax taken out of your paycheck throughout the year aligns with what you’ll owe when you file your tax return at the end of the year. “Some tax forms remain relevant year-round,” says Armine Alajian, CPA and CEO and founder of The Alajian Group. The amount withheld depends on IRS Form W-4, which employees must fill out and provide to their employers when they begin a new job.

For information about irs form w e-filing, see E-filing. Do not print Copy A of Forms W-2, W-3, W-2c, or W-3c from IRS.gov and then file them with the SSA. For all other employers, contact the ESLO that services your region. 1223 is a revenue procedure that explains the requirements for format and content of substitute Forms W-2c and W-3c.

New Question About Foreign Ownership

The employer’s state ID numbers are assigned by the individual states. See the Form W-2 Box 13 Retirement Plan Checkbox Decision Chart. Do not check this box for contributions made to a nonqualified or section 457(b) plan.

Representative of a foreign corporation who needs to obtain an ITIN for the purpose of meeting their e-filing requirement under T.D. Identify the exception by its number, alpha subsection (if applicable), and category under which you’re applying (for example, enter “Exception 1a-Partnership Income” or “Exception 3-Mortgage Interest”). Enter on the dotted line next to box h the exception that applies to you. If the reason for your ITIN request isn’t described in boxes a through g, check this box.