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Thread: w2 wage and tax statement form

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    Default w2 wage and tax statement form

    So this is going to be an incredibly dumb question. I haven't paid taxes in a while, and even then my mom would help me. So I have no idea whats going on, maybe someone will be kind enough to assist me in the right direction.

    Okay, so I worked as a cocktail waitress for about 2 months fall/09. I got paid hourly plus tips. Today I got a w2 form in the mail from the club. I have no idea what this is or what I'm supposed to do lol. I mean, there's 4 copies, 3 are filled out leaving the last one blank. Am I supposed to fill this out? Am I supposed to send this to someone? Why are there 3 filled out copies...they say, copy C for employee records. I keep this right? And then, Copy B to be filed with employees federal tax return. What does that mean? I don't know what a federal tax return is. I didn't really work in 09, am I supposed to file a federal tax return? sigh i know..sorry

    and then copy 2, to be filled with employees tax return for my state.

    So does this mean i need to fill out a federal tax return, and a state tax return, and include this information? Whats the last blank copy for? Sorry I'm so ignorant about this. Thanks in advance for any advice.

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    Default Re: w2 wage and tax statement form

    So does this mean i need to fill out a federal tax return, and a state tax return, and include this information? Whats the last blank copy for? Sorry I'm so ignorant about this. Thanks in advance for any advice.
    No problem ! Yes, the fact that you earned enough money in 2009 to prompt your employer to issue a W2 form also means that you will need to file a 2009 federal tax return. Your siggy doesn't say what state you live in, but from your comments I assume that your state imposes a state income tax. Thus you will also need to file a 2009 state tax return.

    As to the multiple W2 copies, if you are going to file your 2009 returns on paper, you will need to attach the 'federal' W2 copy to your federal 1040EZ ( or whichever ) tax return. You will need to attach the 'state' or extra W2 copy to your state ( whatever the state form number is ) tax return. The 'employee records' copy is for your own files.

    Given that you don't have much 2009 income, and probably given that you don't have a lot of itemized deductions, you can probably get away using one of the 'free' electronic tax filing programs to prepare and electronically file your federal tax return... like the 'free' link at . The same tax program can also prepare and electronically file your state tax return too ( but that probably won't be free).

    Since you received a W2, this also means that the IRS and your state tax agency also received copies of that same W2. As such, if you don't file federal and state tax returns reporting that same W2 income that the IRS and state tax people can match up with their own W2 copies, the odds are high that the IRS and state tax people will come 'looking' for you to find out why you didn't file. With federal and state budget deficits at record high levels this year, one of the ways for the gov't to raise additional money is to

    On the plus side, odds are that by filing federal and state tax returns that you'll actually receive a refund of some of the money your 'employer' withheld from your paychecks when you were working as a waitress.
    Last edited by Melonie; 01-19-2010 at 03:13 PM.

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    Default Re: w2 wage and tax statement form

    thank u so much melonie, i pretty much wrote that hoping you'd respond.

    I have another question though. I talked to a few accountants (friends) and this is what they told me. I don't mean to put my business all out there ha, but I feel like you probably know better than my friends. Okay, so in those months my regular wage total for hourly was about 555, and my tips were about 2900. People are telling me that amount is too low, i dont need to file. But then like you said, the irs has a copy of my w2 form, so I can't just hope to fly under the radar. So if my income for 2009 is just shown to be about 3500, do i really need to file? There were no federal withholdings, just social security, and medicare tax.

    Also, When i quit, they didn't give me my last check. Or they did, but it was for 0 dollars. I asked why and they said something about paying taxes with it or something. I feel like I got scammed or something. I cant remember their exact explanation sorry, but they were telling me something about when it comes time to file taxes, i don't have to or something. I don't know. Where did the money for that last check go? sigh...thanks again in advance

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    Default Re: w2 wage and tax statement form

    Your gross income and filing status determines whether or not you need to file. See below:

    http://www.1040.com/site/FederalTaxe...5/Default.aspx

    I assume you're single and under 65 years old, so you don't need to file unless you earned $9,350 in gross wages. This is a simplification which should apply to your situation.

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    Default Re: w2 wage and tax statement form

    ^^^ its true that if your total 2009 earnings from ALL sources was less than $9,350 then you aren't required to file a tax return. However, since this 'employer' withheld income tax money from your waitress paychecks, you WILL need to file a tax return in order to get any of that money back in the form of a tax refund. In fact, if your total 2009 income was just the $ 3,500 in waitress earnings, you'll probably get back ALL of the tax money your employer withheld from your waitress paychecks.

    Thus the decision to file or not boils down to investing a couple of hours of work in exchange for a couple of hundred dollars in tax refund money.

    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 01-21-2010 at 03:59 AM.

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    Default Re: w2 wage and tax statement form

    thank you guys very much

    maybe ill try that free turbo tax link you gave me. i might get very little back, but hey it's money.

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