Earned income but no W-2?

[MrGreen]

I was a temporary county employee in 2024. I worked almost full-time hours for several weeks and I earned over $1,600. No taxes of any kind were taken out of my paychecks. I thought it was a bit odd that FICA taxes weren't withheld. I have not received a W-2 and the county finance office is telling me W-2s do not need to be sent for earned income less than $2,300. The person I spoke to seemed pretty confident about this. I cannot find that same information online. Everything I see says I should get a W-2.

I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do here. I doubt that I'm supposed to pretend I didn't earn this income, especially since I earned other income during the year and will already file taxes. I see that Form 4852 can be used as a substitute for W-2 income reporting. I can file that and pay my share of FICA taxes but what happens to my employer's share? Will the IRS go after the county for that? If anyone can provide clarity I'd be very grateful.

[MrGreen]

Okay, I understand a little more now but I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to do. I read Publication 15-T for employer withholding and based on the W-4 that I filled out, it's correct that my employer would not have withheld any taxes. Because no taxes were withheld, no W-2 was filed.

I still don't understand what this means for my tax return. I could pretend I never earned this money, though I doubt that's the right answer. I could also file Form 4852 but that also requires that I call the IRS first and jump through certain hoops. Then I guess the IRS would have to go after the county for their portion of FICA taxes? This doesn't seem right either, considering is does look like my employer correctly followed Publication 15-T withholding guidelines. So maybe I don't report this income? I'm lost.

Since it's incredibly unclear, and the county finance people should know what they're doing, I suppose I could file my taxes without that income and if the IRS comes back and says I owe them money I'll pay it.

[MDM]

If you don’t get a W-2 or your W-2 is wrong | Internal Revenue Service might be helpful.

[secondcor521]

The employer is probably wrong.  If you filed a W-4 with them and worked for them, they're normally required to provide you with a W-2 by the end of January.  This is true even if there was no withholding, and is true even if they only paid you $1.

You're required to report all income, including this income.

There are very limited cases where earned income does not require FICA taxes.  Were you by chance an election worker?  In my state election work is earned income and counts as compensation for things like contributing to an IRA, but it's exempt from FICA.  It's a very odd situation that doesn't fit neatly into most tax prep software.  It's also a situation that varies by state according to state law.

If you were an election worker, the right answer might be to report the income on Schedule 1 line 8z.  In this case, no FICA taxes are paid or due by anyone.

[bacchi]

Publication 15-T is about income taxes, not FICA.

If the county didn't take out FICA, they might have their own pension plan and don't withhold for that reason.


Edit: There is a $2700 (used to be $2300) de minimis W2 requirement (see Schedule H) but it seems to be restricted to household employees. E.g., you don't have to file a W2 and withhold if you pay your nanny less than $2700.

[GilesMM]

Just declare the income as Other Income.

[MrGreen]

@secondcor521 it was election work. I checked with SSA and it looks like North Carolina is exempt from FICA taxes if the gross pay is under a certain amount, which mine was.

@bacchi that was my guess as well, that the finance person was referring to the $2,300 associated with household workers since I could find that figure nowhere else.

As a couple of you have suggested, I'll just declare it as other income. My primary concern was with FICA taxes and I'm relieved that is not a problem. Something to be aware of in the future though since I'll probably do election work again. Thank you for the input!

[uniwelder]

I also got paid for election work, but was sent a W2 for the $900 income, though I live in Virginia.  There was nothing deducted for state or federal income tax, or social security or medicaid.  In OP's case, I would just list it as 'other income'.

[MrGreen]

Resurrecting this because I just got my W-2 from the county yesterday. I guess someone told them they messed up and needed to issue one to all their election workers. I have already filed my taxes, listing this income as "other income." I'm assuming I will now need to file an amendment but thought I'd see what the tax gurus here had to say.

[secondcor521]

Resurrecting this because I just got my W-2 from the county yesterday. I guess someone told them they messed up and needed to issue one to all their election workers. I have already filed my taxes, listing this income as "other income." I'm assuming I will now need to file an amendment but thought I'd see what the tax gurus here had to say.

Does the amount on box 1 of the W-2 match the amount you reported as other income?

Are there any numbers on the W-2 besides perhaps boxes 1-6?

Is there any federal or state withholding reported on the W-2?

[MrGreen]

@secondcor521 the amount on Box 1 does match what I reported as other income. There are no numbers besides Boxes 1, 3, and 5. There is no Federal or State withholding reported on the W-2.

[secondcor521]

Right.

So technically your original return is wrong, because, as I'm sure you know, the income should have been reported on line 1 of your 1040, not on Schedule 1 Line 8z or wherever you ended up putting it.

I don't know if the IRS computers will attempt to match the W-2 they received with your 1040 line 1 and send you a love letter because the number you reported is too low by the amount of this particular W-2.  They may just look at your total income and see that you reported enough there (because by then the Other income number was included).

If I were in your shoes, I would not file an amended return, because I'd feel silly sending in a 1040-X which has no changes on any of the lines on it and an explanation that I'd reported some income on the wrong line.

I would write notes as to what happened (it's easy for me to forget the details after some time has passed) and then wait to see if the IRS sends you a letter.  If they do, then you can likely reply with an explanation and they should close it with no issues.  If they don't, you've saved everyone time and hassle over a technicality.

But other tax folks might have a different, and better informed, recommendation than mine.

[MrGreen]

@secondcor521  I appreciate the opinion. That was my primary concern, was that the IRS would get the W-2 and a computer would automatically flag my return because there is no W-2 income reported. I suppose if they don't like it I'll hear about it. My AGI and the associated tax calculation is unchanged so it's not like I kept any money from them.