What To Do If You’re Missing Your 2022 Tax Forms

Feb 24

Check your email.

Some forms may have been issued online or via email. While it’s the case that tax forms cannot be generated electronically without your consent unless a paper copy is also issued, it’s not out of the question that you might have checked a box to receive your information electronically. Check your inbox and your spam filter if you’re missing forms.

Go back through your earlier records.

Some tax forms might have been issued weeks or months earlier. If you redeemed savings bonds, for example, Form 1099-INT might have been issued at the time of redemption. Similarly, if you donated a car to charity, Form 1098-C would have been issued within 30 days of the sale or 30 days of the contribution.

Be patient.

If you’re a trust or estate beneficiary, a shareholder, partner, or member of a pass-through company, you may need to be prepared to play a waiting game. Even though those entities now file a little earlier with the IRS than they used to, they don’t typically report early. Pass-through entities must prepare their tax returns—most commonly due March 15—before they can furnish Schedules K-1. Those Schedules K-1 might take until late March or April to show up on your doorstep, and in some cases, it could take longer.

Take Action.

If the due date for your tax form has come and gone, and you still haven’t seen your information, here’s what to do:

Look around. Your form could be stuck in a magazine or lost in the mail on the counter that you’ve been swearing to sort through for weeks. Your form could be at work. Before you assume that it wasn’t delivered, double-check.
Contact the issuer. You might not have received a tax form because of an incomplete or incorrect address. Or maybe your form got lost in the mail. If that’s the case, simply reach out. The issuer can furnish another form: problem solved.
If your employer is no longer in business or has moved, check to see whether updated information is available. If you don’t know where your employer has moved, send a note to the last known address; there may be a forwarding order at the post office. Or try Google. I know it’s not your job to find your employer, but if you have time to click through cat memes, you can search for a change of address.
Contact Social Security. If you need to replace Form SSA-1099 or SSA-1042, you can request a new one on or after February 1, 2023. The fastest way is to visit www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount to request an instant, printable replacement form. If that doesn’t work for you, contact SSA directly (not IRS). To contact SSA, contact 1.800.772.1213 (TTY 1.800.325.0778) or visit your local office—find yours here (you may need an appointment).
Contact IRS. The IRS doesn’t want to hear from you about missing Forms W-2 until the end of February. But if you don’t have your forms and you’ve made an effort to follow-up, you can reach out. When you call, have your address, phone number, Social Security Number, and dates of employment available. It’s also helpful to have an estimate of your earnings and your withholding—you can find most of this information on your last pay stub. You’ll also need your employer’s name, address, and phone number. Make your life easier by being prepared before you pick up the phone.
Be prepared to wait. After your call, the IRS will contact your employer. The IRS will also send you Form 4852. If you don’t receive your missing forms from your employer by Tax Day—that’s April 18 this year—you’ll be advised to file Form 4852.
Check online. You may be able to find a copy of your tax information in your online account at irs.gov. It’s worth noting that in most cases the information won’t be available early—it has to be filed and processed. However, if you’re still missing your information later in the year, you may find it in your online account.
Don’t forget about amended returns. If you receive your tax form after you filed your return and the information differs from what you reported, you may need to amend your return using Form 1040X.

Use Good Judgment.

It may be tempting to file early, but don’t pull the trigger until you have all of your tax information. Filing before you have your forms could set you up for a potential audit since the IRS compares that info to the what you report on your tax return—your return may be flagged if the data doesn’t match. Don’t give the IRS a reason to give your tax return a second look.