Understand Form W-2
Form W-2 is a Wage and Tax Statement. It’s used by employers to report wages, tips, and other compensation paid to employees throughout the calendar year, as well as record FICA and withheld income taxes. Every employer who pays an employee for services must file a Form W-2 for each employee.
In general, employers are required to file a Form W-2 for each employee who received wages during the year, including employees from whom:
- Federal income, Social Security, or Medicare tax was withheld, or
- Federal income tax would have been withheld if the employee had not claimed more than one withholding allowance, or exemption from withholding, on Form W-4.
More information about Form W-2 and filing requirements is available from the IRS in About Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement.
Download Forms W-2 and W-3
Only the last four digits of an employee’s SSN will appear on their Form W-2. This is for security and compliance purposes.
To download Forms W-2 and W-3 in Wave, you must have an active or limited access payroll subscription.
In 2025, Wave migrated all payroll users to our new payroll experience powered by Check. If your payroll account was active before this migration, Wave automatically generates Form W-2 for all eligible employees based on the payrolls you have approved throughout the calendar year.
To download W-2 Forms:
- On the left-side menu, click Payroll > Tax Forms.
- To the far right of your W-2 Forms, click Preview.
- Click View forms.
- Next to Preview tax returns, click Go.
- Select the 2025 tab, then click Start download for all.
If your payroll account was not active before Wave’s migration, and you have not successfully run at least one 2025 payroll in Wave by December 24, 2025, you must generate your 2025 Forms W-2 outside of Wave.
The tax package containing Forms W-2 and W-3 will be available in your Wave account by January 24, 2026.
Distribute Forms W-2
If your payroll account was set up before the end of 2025, has run a successful payroll, and remains active through January 2026, Wave automatically files Forms W-2 with the Social Security Administration and with applicable states on your behalf. A W-3 annual summary form is provided for your reference.
You must distribute Forms W-2 to your employees no later than January 31, 2026.
If an employee has not been invited to view their payroll information, they cannot access their Form W-2 online through Wave. Once forms are posted, employees who have accepted invitations to view their payroll information online will be able to access their W-2s in Wave.