Also known as the “Wage and Tax Statement,” W-2 Forms are an integral part of tax preparation. Your W-2 shows the amount of taxes withheld from your paycheck in a given year. Whether you’re getting a W-2 for the first time or could use a refresher on the form, keep reading to learn more.

W-2 Wages and Withholding

Be aware that you should only receive a W-2 Form if you are an employee. Should you be self-employed or an independent contractor, expect to receive an earnings statement on a 1099 Form instead. For the sake of this post, let’s focus on a W-2 Form. For one, it’s divided into boxes that report numerous items related to your income. When you first receive a year’s W-2, take a close look at box 1. This is where you will find your annual wage and salary payments with the amount of federal tax withheld from it in box 2.

It’s important to know that since only a fraction of your income is subject to Social Security tax, you may find that box 3 report an amount that’s less than the year’s total wages. Wages subject to Medicare and Social Security taxes can also be found in boxes on the form.

What’s Important About Your Tax Withholding?

Take a close look at your next paycheck. When an employer withholds amounts from your paycheck for federal income taxes, those amounts are remitted to the Internal Revenue Service throughout the year. In turn, the amount your employer reports on the W-2 must be subtracted from your tax bill when you prepare a federal return. It’s at this point when you know whether to expect a refund or make an additional tax payment.

Verifying Your Identity

The IRS expects the income you report on your taxes to match the information on your W-2. If it doesn’t, they will want to know why. What a lot of folks fail to realize is that since the IRS gets a copy of your W-2, it already knows if you owe tax and will likely contact you if you fail to file a return. So don’t stand pat if the name or Social Security number on your W-2 is inaccurate. Report the mistake to your employer as quickly as possible so they can resolve in time for filing.

Common Questions About W-2 Forms

Now that you have some additional background information on W-2 Forms, let’s get into some frequently asked questions.

1. Who needs to file it? – Any employer engaged in a trade or business that pays remunerations for services performed by an employee must file a W-2.

2. When is it filed? – An employer must file a W-2 if they paid remuneration, including non-cash payments of at least $600 or they withheld any income, Social Security, or Medicare tax.

3. What’s the deadline? – The deadline to file your W-2 is the end of February if filing on paper. You have a bit more time if e-filing, however, as the deadline is toward the end of March. Employers should know that they have a January deadline to provide employees with their copies.

4. What’s the penalty for not filing a W-2? – If a business fails to file a W-2, they can expect heavy penalties to be handed down from the IRS. There’s also a penalty should you not provide recipient copies. As with 1099 Forms, penalties only increase with time. That’s why it’s imperative to file as soon as possible.

How OnlineFileTaxes.Com Can Help

Whether you’re a business owner or independent contractor, you don’t have time to mess around with tax forms. That’s where online e-filing comes into play. OnlineFileTaxes.com allows you to send those necessary forms to the IRS for fast, efficient, and simple filing. For years, we have been utilized by small business owners, CPAs, accounting professionals, and individuals. Our team is proud to offer a variety of filing options for your convenience.

So why use us when there are countless other online tax reporting services? For one, OnlineFileTaxes.com allows you to process any number of forms seamlessly and economically. Not only that, but we eliminate the need for expensive software or unsightly administrative/IT costs associated with year-end 1099 processing.

Whether you want to e-file W-2 forms or start on 1095 filing, we can help. Here are some other online tax forms you can expect to find on our site:

• 1098-MA (Form 1098 Mortgage Interest)

• 1095-B

• 1095-C

• And more

Take it from Linda Quinn, one of our recent customers. She says, “Having missed my payroll services deadline, I had to, at the last moment, go online and search for a company to prepare our 1099’s. I selected OnlineFileTaxes after looking at several sites. I was very happy with the price, timeliness, and the end result. Thanks for a job well done. I may use you again this year.”

Don’t let tax season get you down once again. Let OnlineFileTaxes.com help you take charge. Begin the online e-filing process now.

Form 1095-B revolves around health coverage. Essentially, it reports the type of coverage you have, dependents covered by your insurance policy, as well as the period of coverage for the prior year. Form 1095-B verifies that you and your dependents have at least minimum qualifying health insurance coverage. If for whatever reason you had a break in health care coverage for the tax year, you may have to pay a tax penalty.Keep reading to learn more about filing Form 1095-B.

Minimum Essential Coverage

Keep in mind there is a minimum level of benefits your insurance must provide for you to avoid paying that tax penalty. Here are the types of insurance that provide such coverage:

• Employer-sponsored health plans – These can include coverage for retirees, as well as “COBRA” coverage for former employers.

• Government health care plans – Here is where Medicare Part A, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and other similar plans fall into place.

• Coverage purchased through the “Marketplace” – Under the Affordable Care Act, these consist of web-based federal and state insurance markets.

• Any individual health insurance policy you had in place before Obamacare took effect.

What to Know About Form 1095-B

There are four parts to this form. Here’s what you can expect with each:

• Part I – This identifies the person whose name is on the policy. This would be the name of the employee for an employer-sponsored plan.

• Part II – If your coverage happens to be employer-sponsored, this part will identify the employer.

• Part III – This section identifies the insurance company who is providing the coverage.

• Part IV – This is easily the most extensive part of the form. Part IV lists the people in your household who are covered by the insurance. Be aware that for each name, there is a box that will be checked if the person was covered for all 12 months of the year. If that person wasn’t covered for the entire year, there is a box for each month. Again, there will be a penalty assessed with partial coverage (in the majority of cases).

Why Form 1095-B is So Important

Submitting Form 1095-B is proof that you had coverage required by the Affordable Care Act. But what about the penalties? If you fail to file correct information returns or fail to furnish a correct employee statement, you may be subject to a penalty. Gaps in coverage of three months or less are exempt from the penalty. With that said, the IRS will not impose a penalty for filing incorrect and/or incomplete information if the filer/employer has made the effort to comply with reporting requirements. Those who are uninsured may still be able to avoid a tax penalty if they have an exemption. These are available for several reasons such as financial hardship and membership in certain groups.

As far as the deadline is concerned, you must file Form 1095-B by the end of February. However, if filing electronically, the deadline is the end of March. Employees must be provided their copies by the end of January.

Why Choose Us for Online E-Filing?

OnlineFileTaxes.com is an e-file provider approved by the Internal Revenue Service. With us, you can quickly and easily e-file 1099 forms. Feel at ease knowing that your online files will be electronically sent to the IRS for fast, efficient, and hassle-free filing. Whether you’re a business owner, CPA, accounting professional, or individual, you can reap the benefits of OnlineFileTaxes.com.

There are plenty of e-file options out there. So why choose us? For one, you can easily manage all of your 1099 tax forms with our do-it yourself online service. Why worry about mailing delays and spending countless hours filling out lengthy forms. OnlineFileTaxes.com does the following:

• Allows you to process any number of forms seamlessly and economically

• Removes the need to buy and complete a myriad of forms

• Eliminates the need to invest in any software

• Takes away any administrative and IT Costs associated with end-of-year 1099 processing

• Prints, mails, and electronically files with the IRS once the forms are completed

• Supports uploading Excel files as opposed to manually filling out forms and being more susceptible to making a mistake

How to E-File

Take your pick between three convenient options:

1. E-File + print + mail – Let us take care of your e-filing needs with the IRS. We will also print and mail (or e-deliver) copies to recipients.

2. E-file only – Maybe you have already provided copies to your recipients and just want us to report to the IRS. If that’s the case, this is the ideal choice.

3. Print and mail only – Allow us to print and mail recipient copies. It could be that you have previously submitted information to the IRS but want us to provide recipient copies. In this instance, this third option makes the most sense.

Whether you want to e-file W-2 Forms, 1098-MA, 1095-C, or 1095-B, we can help. Get started e-filing today.