New and Missing Forms

Now that we are into March, if you have not yet received certain tax forms, you need to take action. Possibly the most important of these is any W2s from employers that report your wages from 2017. Most people get these by the end of January, so it is really late if you don’t have one.

The first thing to do is to contact your employer. The issue could be as simple as the form was sent to the wrong address. And even if it has been lost for some other reason, you can usually get a copy without an issue.

If for some reason you cannot get a copy from your employer, then you must contact the IRS for a substitute form. The agency can be reached at 1-800-829-1040, and requests that you have the following information handy:

• Name, address, Social Security number and phone number.
• Employer’s name, address and phone number.
• Employment dates.
• Estimate of wages and federal income tax withheld in 2017. Use a final pay stub for these amounts.

Yes, this is all a hassle, but the longer you procrastinate taking care of it, the bigger of a hassle it will feel like as mid-April looms ever larger.

So that covers if you do not yet have a W2 from 2017, but this is also a good time to think about what your 2018 form will look like. Following the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, it will not quite be the same as it was last year.

Chances are that you have already noticed some changes in your paycheck as part of the fallout from the act’s passage. That reflects some of the changes based on your current withholding. It could be worth taking some time, though, to consider what you are currently withholding.

The IRS recently released a new withholding calculator to determine if you are having enough money withheld from your paycheck to cover what your tax obligation is going to be under the new rules. Or, conversely, this could be a chance to have less withheld from your check if you would prefer a little more money in each check than a larger tax refund check.

Even if this would only come to something like $20 each check, putting it into a simple savings account lets you hold onto the money and earn some interest on it rather than having the government hold onto it.

No matter which side of the dynamic you end up on, the IRS also released a new W-4 form if you want to change your withholding. It is recommended that the following groups take advantage of this check-up, for it is more likely that their tax picture changed:

• Two-income families
• People with two or more jobs at the same time, or who only work for part of the year.
• People with children who claim credits such as the Child Tax Credit
• People who itemized deductions in 2017
• People with high incomes and more complex tax returns

And whether you fit into any of these groups or not, rest assured that we remain vigilant and ready to continue to help you navigate the new tax landscape.

​Warmly,

Nicole Odeh
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