If you made less than $600 at a job, whether you need a W-2 depends on one thing: whether your employer withheld any federal income tax, Social Security tax, or Medicare tax from your pay. If they withheld even a few dollars, they owe you a W-2 no matter how small your earnings. The $600 figure only matters in the narrow case where an employer paid you and withheld nothing at all. And regardless of the paperwork, the income itself is still taxable.
When an Employer Has to Issue a W-2
Two separate rules can trigger a W-2. The first has nothing to do with dollar amounts. If your employer withheld any federal income tax, Social Security tax, or Medicare tax from your wages during the year, they must issue a W-2, period.1Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026) A teenager who earned $200 over a weekend and had $15 in Social Security tax taken out is entitled to the same form as a salaried employee.
The second rule covers pay with no withholding. If the employer paid you $600 or more in total compensation and none of it was subject to withholding, they still have to report those payments on a W-2.2Internal Revenue Service, Treasury. 26 CFR 1.6041-2 Under $600 with zero withholding is the only combination that lets an employer skip the form entirely.
Because most employees have at least Social Security and Medicare tax deducted from every check, the withholding rule almost always kicks in first. If you looked at a pay stub and saw any tax line with a number greater than zero, you should receive a W-2 by January 31 of the following year.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6051 – Receipts for Employees
Why People Think $600 Is the W-2 Cutoff
The $600 number gets stuck in people’s heads because it is a real reporting threshold, just not for W-2 employees in most cases. Businesses that pay independent contractors and freelancers must file a 1099-NEC when they pay $600 or more in nonemployee compensation during the year.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (04/2025) That threshold gets talked about often enough that people assume the same rule governs regular jobs.
It doesn’t. For an employee whose paychecks had any tax withheld, there is no floor at all. And none of the 1099 thresholds affect whether you have to report the money you earned.
You Still Owe Tax on the Income
Federal law defines gross income as all income from whatever source, including compensation for services.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 61 – Gross Income Defined Small amounts are not exempt. If you earned $400 washing cars over the summer and never saw a W-2, that $400 is still legally part of your taxable income.
Owing tax and being required to file a return are not the same thing, though. For tax year 2025, a single filer under 65 doesn’t need to file a return unless gross income reaches $15,750. The threshold is $23,625 for heads of household and $31,500 for married couples filing jointly.6Internal Revenue Service. Check If You Need to File a Tax Return If a sub-$600 job was your only income, you probably fall well below the line where filing is mandatory.
Filing anyway can still pay off. If any federal income tax was withheld from those wages, the only way to get it back is to file a return and claim the refund. The same is true if you qualify for refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit. Skip the return and the money stays with the Treasury.
What to Do if You Should Have Gotten a W-2 and Didn’t
If your employer withheld tax from your pay and hasn’t sent you a W-2 by early February, start with them. Confirm they have your correct address. Ask whether the form is available electronically through their payroll system.
Still nothing by the end of February? Call the IRS at 800-829-1040 or visit a Taxpayer Assistance Center. The agency will contact the employer on your behalf and prompt them to send the form.7Internal Revenue Service. W-2 – Additional, Incorrect, Lost, Non-Receipt, Omitted
If April 15 is closing in and the W-2 still hasn’t shown up, you can file using IRS Form 4852 as a substitute.8Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement You’ll estimate your wages and withholding from the records you have. A final pay stub with year-to-date totals is the best source; an interim stub can be extrapolated by dividing the year-to-date wages by the number of pay periods covered and multiplying by the periods you actually worked. Attach the completed Form 4852 to your Form 1040. If the real W-2 shows up later and the numbers don’t match, file Form 1040-X to amend the return.
What Happens if You Just Skip It
The IRS matches every W-2 in its system against the wages people report on their returns. If your employer files a W-2 and you don’t include those wages, expect a notice in the mail, usually a proposed additional tax bill plus interest. Interest compounds daily; the current rate on individual underpayments is 7% per year.9Internal Revenue Service. Quarterly Interest Rates A 20% accuracy-related penalty can apply on top of that if the understatement is large enough to be considered substantial.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6662 – Imposition of Accuracy-Related Penalty on Underpayments For a forgotten small job, the dollars probably won’t reach that threshold, but the interest alone is reason enough to report accurately.
There’s a longer-term cost too. Wages you don’t report don’t get credited to your Social Security record. In 2026, you earn one credit for every $1,890 in reported earnings, up to four credits per year, and you need 40 credits over your working life to qualify for retirement benefits.11Social Security Administration. Quarter of Coverage For someone early in their career or working part-time, even a small job’s earnings can push you across the line for another credit. Leave them off and that credit disappears.
The Short Version
If any tax was withheld, you should get a W-2 regardless of how little you made, and it’s worth chasing down. If nothing was withheld and you earned under $600, the employer isn’t required to send one. Either way, the earnings count as income. Whether you have to file a return depends on your total income for the year, but filing to recover withheld tax or claim a refundable credit is often worth the trouble even when you aren’t required to file.