04 January 2016 2015 Forms W-2 due dates The due dates for filing state Forms W-2 for tax year 2015 are in the Attachment. Note that changes from tax year 2014 are highlighted in yellow. Blue type indicates that the due date differs from federal. As we previously reported (Tax Alert 2015-2413), on December 18, 2015, the President signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (H.R. 2029) that, among other things, accelerates the federal filing due date for Form W-2 effective with returns filed in 2017 (tax year 2016). (See Publication 15, Employer's Tax Guide, Rev. 2016.) Despite commentary from business groups that accelerating the Form W-2 filing due date would result in a significant burden to employers and an increase in reporting errors, H.R. 2029 requires that effective for tax year 2016 (filed in 2017) the due date for filing Forms W-2/W-3 with the Social Security Administration is accelerated to January 31 whether filed electronically or on paper. (Currently the due date for filing paper Forms W-2/W-3 is the last day of February and the due date for electronically filed forms is March 31.) In addition, the earlier filing due date of January 31 applies to returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service to report nonemployee compensation (e.g., Form 1099-MISC). (Section 6071, new subsection (c).) To allow time for the processing and use of employer-provided Form W-2 data by the IRS in issuing income tax refunds to taxpayers, H.R. 2029 also stipulates that no credit or refund of a tax overpayment will be made to taxpayers for the tax year before the 15th day of the second month following the close of such taxable year. (Section 6402, new subsection (m).) In addition to the states that already require a January 31 filing due date, it is anticipated that a number of states that follow the federal W-2 guidelines will also change their filing due date next year (e.g., Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, North Dakota, Oregon and Vermont).
Document ID: 2016-0006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
