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What Is a W-2?
Form W-2 is an IRS tax form used to report wages, salary, and other compensation paid to employees, and the taxes withheld from them. A W-2 will be issued to any full or part-time employee that receives a payment through Justworks. It will state the total amount of income received as well as all federal, state, and local taxes withheld. Each box on your W-2 will contain information that can be identified in the below list. This is an example of what your Form W-2 will look like:
What Do You Have To Do With Your W-2?
You will receive your W-2 either by mail, directly in your Justworks account, or both, depending on whether you opted to only receive your W-2 electronically. The electronic and paper copies will be identical and either can be used to file your taxes.
What Does Each Box Mean?
Box a: Your Social Security Number
NOTE: If you have requested a mailed copy of your W-2, you will notice your SSN has been truncated for added security. IRS guidance permits the truncation of Social Security Numbers on employee copies of Form W-2 to reduce identity theft risk. This truncated SSN is valid for tax filing purposes. If you prefer to receive a copy of your W-2 with your full SSN present, please contact Customer Support at support@justworks.com or (888) 534-1711 so a new copy can be generated.
Box b: Employer’s EIN - If your employer uses Justworks PEO, this will reflect Justworks' EIN, as Justworks is the employer of record for payroll and tax purposes. If your employer uses Justworks Payroll (not PEO), this will reflect your employer's own EIN.
Box c: Employer’s business address - If your employer uses Justworks PEO, this will reflect Justworks' business address. If your employer uses Justworks Payroll, this will reflect your employer's address
Box d: Control number (This is for internal purposes and you won't need to do anything with this number)
Box e and f: Your full name and address (This is pulled from your account settings)
Box 1: Total taxable wages, tips, prizes, and other compensation. This does not include elective deferrals to retirement plans, pre-tax benefits, or payroll deductions. Note: Boxes 3 and 5 may contain different numbers than Box 1. This is OK and not an error.
Box 2: Generally, the total amount of federal income taxes withheld during the year, as determined by the withholding elections you indicated on your Form W-4 (reflected in the “Finances” section of your Justworks profile). This includes your filing status, any additional withholding amounts, and other adjustments you specified.
Box 3: Total wages subject to Social Security tax (Learn more)
Box 4: Total amount of Social Security tax actually withheld
Box 5: Total wages and tips subject to Medicare taxes
Box 6: Total amount of Medicare taxes withheld
Box 7: Social security tips
Box 8: Allocated tips that your employer has distributed to you as income
Box 9: This is a verification code and one may or may not appear on your W-2.
Box 10: Total of any benefits paid on your behalf under a dependent care assistance program.
Box 11: Total amounts which have been distributed to you from your employer’s non-qualified deferred compensation plan.
Box 12: Various codes will populate this box such as payments related to employee 401(k) contributions, employee 501(c)(18)(D) tax exempt organization plan, non-taxable portion of sick pay, cost of employer-sponsored health coverage, employer contributions to an HSA, and more. You can find a table of common Box 12 codes below.
Box 13: This is three boxes in one and will indicate if you’re a statutory employee, if you participated in your employer’s retirement plan (i.e. 401(k)), or if you received sick pay under a third party insurance carrier
Box 14: Anything not included in another box
Box 15: Employer’s state and state tax ID number (If your employer uses Justworks PEO, this will reflect Justworks' information. If your employer uses Justworks Payroll, this will reflect your employer’s information.)
Box 16: Total amount of taxable wages for state taxes
NOTE: If you earned W-2 wages in New York State at any point during the reported year, the line item for New York State in Box 16 will match Box 1 on your W-2, in accordance with NYS guidance. This will not impact the amount of state taxes that were actually withheld during the year. The amount of state income tax that was withheld will be reflected in Box 17.
Box 17: Total amount of state income taxes withheld
Box 18: Wages subject to local, city, or state income taxes
Box 19: Total local, city, and state income taxes withheld
Box 20: Name of the local, city, or other state tax being reported in Box 19
Form W-2 Reference Guide for Box 12 Codes
| A | Uncollected social security or RRTA tax on tips | L | Substantiated employee business expense reimbursements | Y | Deferrals under a section 409A nonqualified deferred compensation plan |
| B | Uncollected Medicare tax on tips (but not Additional Medicare Tax) | M | Uncollected social security or RRTA tax on taxable cost of group-term life insurance over $50,000 (former employees only) | Z | Income under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan that fails to satisfy section 409A |
| C | Taxable cost of group-term life insurance over $50,000 | N | Uncollected Medicare tax on taxable cost of group-term life insurance over $50,000 (but not Additional Medicare Tax) (former employees only) | AA | Designated Roth contributions under a section 401(k) plan |
| D | Elective deferrals under a section 401(k) cash or deferred arrangement plan (including a SIMPLE 401(k) arrangement) | P | Excludable moving expenses reimbursements paid directly to members of the Armed Forces | BB | Designated Roth contributions under a section 403(b) plan |
| E | Elective deferrals under a section 403(b) salary reduction agreement | Q | Nontaxable combat pay | DD | Cost of employer-sponsored health coverage |
| F | Elective deferrals under a section 408(k)(6) salary reduction SEP | R | Employer contributions to an Archer MSA | EE | Designated Roth contributions under a governmental section 457(b) plan |
| G | Elective deferrals and employer contributions (including nonelective deferrals) to a section 457(b) deferred compensation plan | S | Employee salary reduction contributions under a section 408(p) SIMPLE plan | FF | Permitted benefits under a qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangement |
| H | Elective deferrals to a section 501(c)(18)(D) tax-exempt organization plan | T | Adoption benefits | GG | Income from qualified equity grants under section 83(i) |
| J | Nontaxable sick pay | V | Income from exercise of nonstatutory stock option(s) | HH | Aggregate deferrals under section 83(i) elections as of the close of the calendar year |
| K | 20% excise tax on excess golden parachute payments | W | Employer contributions (including employee contributions through a cafeteria plan) to an employee's health savings account (HSA) |
Why Does My W-2 List Justworks as My Employer?
This is expected and correct for Justworks PEO customers. As a PEO, Justworks reports taxes on behalf of your company and will therefore be listed as your employer on your W-2.
How Do I Find My W-2 In Justworks?
You can access your W-2s, by logging into Justworks and navigating to the 'Documents' tab in the left-side bar menu. Here you'll find a PDF copy of your W-2 you can download.
What If My Address On My W-2 Is Incorrect?
The address on your W-2 reflects the address on file when the form was prepared and does not need to match your current address for the form to be valid. If you moved to a different state during the tax year, your state and local tax obligations may be more complex. For example, you may have partial-year residency obligations in two states. We recommend consulting a tax professional to ensure your state and local taxes are filed correctly. To update your address going forward, log into your Justworks profile and notify your company administrator so your withholding can be adjusted.
Do I Need to Receive a Physical W-2?
No! If you plan to e-file your taxes and won't require a physical copy of your W-2, you can opt into paperless delivery. Simply go to the Finance section of your Account Settings, and select 'Yes' next to 'Paperless W-2.' Once your W-2 is ready, you'll see it in your Documents section.
What Do I Do If I See An Error On My W-2?
If you notice any errors with your W-2 let us know and we will issue you a W-2C, which is a corrected version of your W-2. When you file your personal income tax return with the IRS, you will need to report the corrected box amounts from the W-2C along with the box amounts from the original W-2 that did not require corrections.
It's important to note that the W2-C form will only show the information that needed to be corrected and not all the information from your original W2. Both are required when filing your taxes.
To allow sufficient processing time, please notify us of any W-2 errors as soon as possible and no later than approximately March 31. We will do our best to issue corrections before the standard filing deadline, but we cannot guarantee delivery timing in all cases. If you need more time to file, an extension of time to file (not to pay) may be available—consult your tax advisor for guidance on whether an extension is appropriate for your situation.
My Box 1 Amount does not match my year to date earnings
Box 1 on the W2 reflects total taxable wages, tips, prizes, and other compensation for the given year. This does not include elective deferrals to retirement plans, pre-tax benefits, or payroll deductions.
Note: Boxes 3 and 5 may contain different numbers than Box 1. This is okay and is not an error. Your Box 1 should reflect your YTD earnings minus your pre-tax deductions, which can be seen on your final paystub of last year.
You can access your final paystub by going to You > Paystubs > selecting last year as the year at the top of the page, clicking on the final paystub, and scrolling to the bottom to review the Year-to-Date section.
If I worked for more than one Justworks customer in a single year, will I receive 2 W-2s?
If an employee works for more than one employer within the same Justworks PEO entity, the employee will receive a single Form W-2 from Justworks that reports income across each employer.
If an employee works for more than one employer across multiple Justworks PEO entities, the employee will receive multiple Forms W-2 from Justworks—one from each Justworks PEO entity where they had employment.
When will my W-2 be Available on Justworks?
By January 31st each year (IRS deadline). Employees receive electronic access via their Justworks account and/or mailed copies if opted in.
Notes: If January 31 falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline is the next business day.
Can I expedite my W-2?
No, the generation of tax documents cannot be expedited. W-2s will be available in your Justworks account and/or mailed to you (if applicable) no later than January 31.
Can you mail me a copy of my W-2?
You can update your preferred delivery method for next year by logging into Justworks > Account settings > Tax info > W-2 delivery method. In order to receive a mailed copy of your W2, you must update your preferred setting no later than December 31st of the prior year.
How can I access my W-2 if I no longer work for a company that uses Justworks?
You can still access your Justworks account by logging in here, even if you no longer work for the employer that paid you through Justworks.
If you’ve forgotten your username or password, you can click the “Forgot username or password?” hyperlink and enter the “home” email address linked to your account if you no longer have access to the work email we have on file.
If you’re still having trouble, please give us a call at (888) 534-1711.
I’ve Lost My W-2. Can I Get Another One?
Justworks does not reissue W-2s for replacement copies; however, you can access and print a PDF copy of your W-2 at any time from the Documents section of your Justworks account. If there is an error on your W-2, please contact Customer Support and we will issue a corrected W-2C.
Disclaimer
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal or tax advice. If you have any legal or tax questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with your professional legal or tax advisor.