Form W-2

2026 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement (W2 form)

Form W-2 is the wage and tax statement an employer completes for each employee to report pay and the tax withheld. The IRS has posted the 2026 Form W-2 for wages paid in 2026, and its PDF is for information, not for filing Copy A. If you re-enter the same employer details for each employee or each year, upload a W-2 you completed and a blank one, then review every answer and preview the PDF before you pay.

Tested with the irs.gov edition dated 2026

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What Form W-2 is and who completes it

irs.gov says every employer engaged in a trade or business who pays remuneration, including noncash payments, for services performed by an employee must file Form W-2 for each employee to whom any of these applies: income, Social Security or Medicare tax was withheld; income tax would have been withheld if the employee had not claimed exemption from withholding on Form W-4; or payments meet or exceed the reporting threshold even if no tax was withheld. The employer completes the form. An employee does not fill in their own W-2.

Download the current form (and what the PDF is for)

The PDF on irs.gov is titled "2026 Form W-2". Its first page says CAUTION: DO NOT FILE, and that official IRS information returns with a scannable Copy A are ordered from the IRS. The instructions on the form repeat it: do not send the SSA any Forms W-2 and W-3 that you printed from IRS.gov, because the SSA cannot process them. You create and submit them online instead. So treat this PDF as an informational or recordkeeping copy, for example Copy B or C or a copy you give an employee, and read the IRS instructions before you decide what you can use it for. RepeatForm does not supply the blank form: get it from irs.gov.

Where the W-2 copies go

Due date: the IRS General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026) give February 1, 2027 for 2026 wages, both to furnish Copies B, C and 2 to each employee and to file Copy A, with Form W-3, with the Social Security Administration, on paper or electronically. Read the IRS instructions. Copy A has to be the scannable official copy, and photocopies are not acceptable. Which copies you give to whom, and how you file, is set by those instructions. RepeatForm does not send anything anywhere.

Going through the form

Boxes a to f hold the employee's social security number, the employer's EIN, the employer's name, address and ZIP code, a control number, and the employee's name and address. Boxes 1 to 6 hold wages, tips and other compensation, federal income tax withheld, social security wages and tax withheld, and Medicare wages and tax withheld. Boxes 12 and 14 and the state and local boxes follow. For 2026 the IRS split box 14 into 14a (Other) and 14b (Treasury Tipped Occupation Code) and made box 9 smaller; box 12 has a new code TP for cash tips. RepeatForm does not decide what goes in any box: read the General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 or ask your payroll provider or tax adviser.

Reuse it for the next employee or year

An employer completes one W-2 for each employee, and the employer's details are the same on every one. The same goes for next year: a new W-2 each year, with the employer details unchanged. Most employers never need this because payroll software fills W-2s from payroll records. This page is for the narrow case where you type the same employer details (name, address, EIN) into a W-2 PDF for each employee, or start next year's from last year's. Upload a W-2 you completed and a blank one. RepeatForm carries the matching answers across, you review them, and you preview the PDF before you pay. Employee details, the year and every amount belong to one employee and one year: check or replace them (see the lists below).

What carries over

✓Employer name, address and EIN, where they match in both copies
✓Other boxes that match in both copies, such as the state and local boxes
✓Employee details and dollar amounts can carry too, but they belong to last time's employee and year. Replace every one of them

What never carries over

✓Anything the IRS prints and locks on the form, including Copy A. Those boxes are left exactly as the IRS printed them.
✓Anything in your completed copy that does not appear in the blank form.
✓The right employee. Check the employee's name, address and social security number on every copy yourself.
✓The right year. Check the tax year and every amount.

Current irs.gov edition

The Form W-2 PDF on irs.gov is titled "2026 Form W-2". The IRS changes the layout between years, so check which year you need for the wages you are reporting. Get the current form from irs.gov

If the IRS form has a new edition

The IRS changes the W-2 layout between years. For 2026, box 14 became 14a and 14b and box 9 shrank to make room. Carrying a 2025 copy into the 2026 form works for many answers, but some fields are renamed or moved and match only partly, so check every field after a new edition, especially boxes 12 and 14.

Employees give their employer a W-4 so the employer knows how much tax to withhold.

Employers also file a quarterly payroll return, Form 941.

If you pay someone who is not an employee, the form you may file is the 1099-NEC.

Employees use the W-2 they receive to prepare their 1040 return.

Rents, royalties and other miscellaneous payments are reported on Form 1099-MISC.

How it works

Move matching answers into the new form, then check the PDF.

Upload the two versions, check what matched, then inspect the finished PDF before paying.

Upload two PDFs

Start with a completed Form W-2 and a blank one.

Check matching answers

Review what RepeatForm found before creating Preview.

Preview the result

Inspect the exact completed PDF before paying.

Free to upload, review and preview. Pay $6.99 USD once to download the PDF you checked. No subscription.

Start with your PDFs

Good to know

✓You review every carried-over answer. RepeatForm does not guarantee the form is correct.
✓RepeatForm does not give tax, payroll or legal advice, does not file anything with the SSA or IRS, and cannot tell you which copies or forms you need.
✓The official Copy A for filing is not something you can produce from the IRS.gov PDF. RepeatForm works with the PDF you give it.
✓It works with digital, text-selectable PDFs only. Scans, photos and handwriting are not supported.
✓Same or recent editions work best. If the form changed you may get fewer matches, so check the preview carefully and get the current form from irs.gov.

Not sure whether your form is supported? See the list on supported PDFs.

Want to know how reuse works with any PDF form? Read how to copy PDF form fields.

FAQ

Who fills out a W-2?+

The employer. irs.gov says every employer in a trade or business that pays an employee for services must file a Form W-2 for each employee in the cases it lists. An employee reviews the W-2 they receive; they do not complete it.

Can I file a W-2 from the IRS website PDF?+

Not Copy A. The PDF says CAUTION: DO NOT FILE, and the form's instructions say the SSA cannot process W-2 and W-3 forms printed from IRS.gov. Order the official scannable forms from the IRS, or create and submit them online as the instructions describe.

When are W-2s due?+

The IRS General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026) give February 1, 2027: furnish Copies B, C and 2 to each employee who worked for you during 2026, and mail or electronically file Copy A with Form W-3 to the SSA. The instructions have the details and any exceptions.

Is there a new W-2 for 2026?+

Yes. The PDF on irs.gov is titled "2026 Form W-2". For 2026 the IRS split box 14 into 14a (Other) and 14b (Treasury Tipped Occupation Code), made box 9 smaller and added code TP to box 12 for cash tips. Check About Form W-2 for the current form and which year you need for the wages you are reporting.

What changed on the 2026 W-2?+

The IRS instructions say box 14 is split into 14a (Other) and 14b (Treasury Tipped Occupation Code), box 9 is smaller so box 14a has room, and box 12 has a new code TP for cash tips reported to the employer. Read the instructions for how to use them.

What is the difference between a W-2 and a 1099?+

They are different forms. The employer completes the W-2 to report an employee's pay and tax withheld. The employee gives the employer a W-4 so the employer can withhold. A 1099 is a separate family of forms for other kinds of payments, including payments to people who are not employees.

Can I reuse last year's W-2?+

Reuse the employer details. The employee, the year and every dollar amount are different each time, so check or replace them.

How do I correct a W-2 I already filed?+

With Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement. The IRS General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 say to use Form W-2c to correct errors on Forms W-2 filed with the SSA, and to give corrected forms to employees. If you were required to e-file the original W-2, the instructions say you must e-file the W-2c. RepeatForm's page covers Form W-2, not Form W-2c.