The company I used to work for is withholding my w2, is that legal?

Question

I called my former employer to ask about my W2 and to make sure that they had the correct address to send it to. The person I spoke to told me that the company was withholding my W2 because I owe $40 for a uniform. I returned all of the uniforms and everything else I had about a year ago! She then proceeded to tell me that it would actually be $20 and not $40.
Either way, is this even legal? It's been almost a year since I returned everything and left the company and never heard anything about any missing uniforms! What can I do?
Thanks, zO.

Answer 1

by Jan 31st you have not received your W2, call the employer and ask them if they have been sent. If by Feb 15th you have not received it, call the Internal Revenue Service at 1-800-829-1040 and file a W2 complaint. They wil take a report and send you a form that you can use as a subsitute, you will need your last paycheck stub when you call, along with the name, address and phone# of the employer and what dates you worked for them

Answer 2

I guess you’ve never run a business. Contractors get paid more than employees. Now that you are an “employee” you do NOT get paid the same as you did before. Yeah, you might get to see the invoice your “staffing company” billed, but your wages are what’s on the W-2, not that invoice. You are not getting a raise out of this. To the employer, your paycheck is not what is shown on your paystub, but includes the wages, the employer side of FICA/MC, FUTA, insurance, benefits, time off, etal. The old saw was that you cost your employer 2x your salary. Yes, too many employers went hey, I’ll call them contractors, only pay them when they work, no benefits, no insurance, no FUTA and they’re on their own for both sides of FICA/MC. If they are out of work, that’s their problem. Your industry did this for years and settled on a price of, say, $1000 a day. Had you been on the books, as you were supposed to be, they would have only paid you $500. Yes, the IRS got involved over the misclassification. For the IRS, it’s mostly because contractors routinely screw up their taxes and never pay them. Yes, it’s a slight runaround that the studios tell you they’ll hire you, but only through a staffing agency that issues a W-2. The studio can then budget the SAME $1000 a day they were paying you before and let the agency break the news to you that your gross pay is NOT $1000 a day, but $800. The agency backs out the employer FICA/MC, FUTA and charges a fee to cover their overhead. Edit. FICA/MC are not a a sales tax. There is absolutely no law to force the studios to pay more than what they agreed to. The employer side of the FICA/MC has to be paid. If the studio isn't paying extra for it and the agency isn't paying it, then, duh, you are. The difference is your box one on the W-2 will be reduced (line 25 on the 1040 goes away too), any expenses move to schedule A, your fica/mc is paid up front and that's it. The IRS is now happy because your taxes are withheld up front and it's harder for you not to pay.

Answer 3

All companies must have W-2's postmarked by Jan. 31 of the next year. That is you may receive it in early February. However, companies cannot withhold your W-2. That is illegal. They are pulling your chain trying to get the money that you owe them. Whatever, call the IRS!

Answer 4

report them to the irs. it's a criminal act to withhold a w2 from an employee, former or current. if it hasn't been ,mailed by jan 31, they are in violation of federal law and can be held liable for civil and criminal actions.

Answer 5

Call the IRS for an opinion and then call the company back and tell them IRS's response and that you need the employer's EIN number for the Senior IRS Supervisor you talked with.

Answer 6

I am pretty sure the federal law requires employeers to hand over the W-2's by a certain date in Feb. I am also pretty sure it is illegal for them to withhold it for the reason you say they are. Shame on them for not holding your last paycheck.

Check our irs.gov and you states department of revenue, I bet you could find out for sure there.

Answer 7

Employers are required by law to have ALL W-2s mailed by January 31, no later. Let them know that you are reporting them to the IRS, then do so.

No, it isn't legal.

Answer 8

They may not refuse to send you your w-2. However,you must file even if you don't have it. Hopefully you saved the last pay stub,showing the year-to-date earnings.

Answer 9

fu** no, that is illegal, report them to the i.r.s., I don't care what you owe them, your W2 has nothing to do with them, its actually federally mandated so for them to withhold it is a federal offense.