Form W-2 reports an employee’s annual wage and withholding information. An employer prepares it from reconciled payroll, supplies employee copies, and separately completes the required agency reporting. The W-2 PDF builder can organize entered records, but purchasing its packet does not file a wage report with Social Security.
Who prepares a W-2, and which year belongs on it?
The IRS W-2 overview explains employer wage reporting. Use the correct reporting year and determine the obligation under that year's instructions. Do not choose a year just because that is when the employee requests a copy or you prepare the document.
An employee requesting a replacement should contact the employer. Employers should distinguish an original, a replacement copy, and a correction to an already filed statement. An original W-2 should not be created again to overwrite an accepted report.
Which annual records should match the statement?
- Employer legal identity, EIN, and applicable state identification.
- Employee name, address, and correct full taxpayer number for reporting.
- Annual wages by federal income-tax, Social Security, and Medicare category.
- Actual federal, Social Security, Medicare, state, and local withholding.
- Reportable benefit amounts, retirement-plan indicators, and applicable box codes.
- Voids, payroll corrections, and prior payments already included in totals.
Do not copy the final pay stub's gross amount into every W-2 wage box. Different tax bases can legitimately differ. Our W-2 and pay-stub comparison explains why a benefit's tax treatment matters.
How can you catch a duplicate-income mistake?
Fictional check: assume reconciled payroll supports $46,000 in Box 1 and $48,000 in Box 5. These are separate wage-reporting categories, not $94,000 in earnings. The $2,000 difference requires an explanation in the underlying records; it is not a balancing entry to invent on the form.
Also check that bonuses, final wages, and off-cycle payments were included once. A later-issued statement may describe an earlier payment. The date the PDF was downloaded does not turn its annual amount into additional wages.
What does this W-2 builder prepare?
The reviewed W-2 builder currently offers the 2025 packet. It supports actual payroll-total entry and an alternative with editable estimates. Actual annual reporting must reflect verified payroll; estimated calculations are not evidence of what was withheld.
The W-2 product page says employee and employer copies are filled while red Copy A stays blank. It does not offer SSA, IRS, or state submission. Do not send the blank informational Copy A as a completed agency filing. Check the selected year and current scope before ordering rather than relabeling a 2025 form as 2026.
How do document delivery and agency filing differ?
Under the current W-2/W-3 instructions, employee delivery, agency filing, electronic-reporting requirements, and compliant paper forms each have their own rules. Preparing a readable employee copy does not complete those obligations. Keep a filing confirmation or appropriate mailing evidence separately from the PDF.
Review the employer's combined report using our W-3 guide. If a previously filed W-2 is wrong, use the applicable correction procedure and provide corrected employee records. Our W-2c guide explains that distinction.
Common questions
Can an employee issue their own employer W-2?
A W-2 is the employer’s wage statement. Ask the employer for a missing or corrected document; do not represent a self-created PDF as an employer-issued filing.
Does this replace payroll reconciliation?
No. Wages, benefit codes, and actual withholding must be established before preparation. A calculation option cannot recover missing payroll history.
Is checkout the tax-filing fee?
Checkout pays for the described document-preparation service. Required agency submission and any tax payment remain separate.
Official blank forms and instructions are available from the IRS. The linked builder is an optional document-preparation service; use the applicable official instructions to complete any required signing, delivery, and filing.