Copy B of Form W-2 is the copy your employer gives you to use with your federal income tax return. If you file on paper, you attach Copy B to your Form 1040. If you e-file, you use Copy B as your reference when typing wage and withholding information into your tax software. Employers must get your W-2 to you by January 31 following the end of the tax year.1Social Security Administration. Deadline Dates to File W-2s
Where Copy B Fits Among the Other W-2 Copies
Your W-2 is printed as a set. Some copies go to government agencies through your employer, and three come to you. The data on all of them is identical; the label at the top tells you where each one goes.2Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026)
Of the three you receive, Copy B is for your federal return, Copy 2 is for your state, city, or local return if one is required, and Copy C is your personal record. Your employer separately sends Copy A to the Social Security Administration, keeps Copy D for its own payroll records, and files Copy 1 with any state or local tax department that requires it.
Copy B is the one the IRS wants. Copy C is your backup if the others go missing.
What to Do With Copy B When You File
How you use Copy B depends on how you file.
If you mail a paper return, attach Copy B to the front of your Form 1040 before sending it.3Internal Revenue Service. IRS Tax Tip 2001-30 How to Prepare Your Tax Return for Mailing If you worked more than one job during the year, attach a Copy B from every employer. The IRS uses those physical copies to verify your wages and withholding.
If you e-file, you don’t mail anything. You type the figures from Copy B into the software’s W-2 entry fields, and the software transmits them to the IRS. Some employers and payroll providers now deliver W-2s through online portals, and popular tax software can often import them directly. Whether your Copy B arrived on paper or as a PDF, the underlying data is the same.
Keep Copy B after you file either way. You’ll want it if the IRS ever questions your return.
Boxes on Copy B Worth Checking Before You File
Spend a minute reviewing the key boxes before entering anything. Errors here flow directly into your 1040 and can trigger IRS notices or delay your refund.
Boxes 1 and 2
Box 1 shows your total taxable wages, tips, and other compensation. Box 2 shows the federal income tax your employer already withheld. Box 1 becomes the wage figure on your 1040, and Box 2 is the credit you claim for taxes already paid. If Box 2 looks lower than you expected, revisit your W-4 elections with your employer for the coming year.
Box 12 Codes
Box 12 uses letter codes to report specific types of compensation or benefits. The ones most employees encounter:
- Code D reports elective deferrals to a 401(k), including SIMPLE 401(k)s. This amount was already excluded from your Box 1 wages, so don’t deduct it again on your return.4Internal Revenue Service. Common Errors on Form W-2 Codes for Retirement Plans
- Code DD reports the total cost of your employer-sponsored health coverage. It’s informational, not taxable.5Internal Revenue Service. Form W-2 Reporting of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage
- Code W reports employer contributions (including amounts you elected through a cafeteria plan) to a health savings account.2Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026)
- Code E reports elective deferrals to a 403(b) retirement plan, common for teachers and nonprofit employees.
- Code C reports the taxable cost of group-term life insurance above $50,000 in coverage. Unlike Code DD, this amount is included in your taxable wages.
Starting with 2026 W-2s, a new Code TT reports qualified overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which may qualify for a special deduction for tax years 2025 through 2028.2Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026) Your tax software should handle the deduction automatically, but it’s worth confirming if Code TT appears on your form.
Box 13 Retirement Plan Checkbox
If the “Retirement plan” box in Box 13 is checked, your employer considers you an active participant in a workplace retirement plan. That designation can limit or eliminate your traditional IRA deduction, depending on your income and filing status.4Internal Revenue Service. Common Errors on Form W-2 Codes for Retirement Plans If you contributed to a traditional IRA and see that box checked, confirm your deduction is actually allowed before filing.
How Long to Keep Copy B
The IRS says to keep tax records for at least three years from the date you filed the return.6Internal Revenue Service. How Long Should I Keep Records The window stretches to seven years if you ever claim a deduction for worthless securities or a bad debt.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 305, Recordkeeping Four years from the filing date is a safe baseline for most people, since a return filed early is treated as filed on the due date.
You don’t have to keep the original paper. The IRS accepts scanned or digital copies as valid records, as long as your storage system preserves accuracy and legibility and you can produce a readable printout if asked during an audit.8Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 97-22 A clear photo or PDF stored in a secure location works for most individual taxpayers.
If Copy B Is Missing, Late, or Wrong
Employers must furnish your W-2 by January 31. If yours hasn’t arrived by early February, start with your employer’s payroll department. It may have been mailed to an old address or held up by a payroll vendor.
If you still don’t have it by the end of February, call the IRS at 800-829-1040.9Internal Revenue Service. If You Don’t Get a W-2 or Your W-2 Is Wrong Have your name, address, Social Security number, dates of employment, and your employer’s name and contact information ready. The IRS will reach out to your employer and send you Form 4852, a substitute for the W-2.10Internal Revenue Service. Form 4852 – Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement
A missing W-2 does not extend your filing deadline. The IRS expects you to file on time, using Form 4852 and your best estimate of wages and withholding from your final pay stub if you can’t get the actual form.11Internal Revenue Service. IRS Tax Tip 2004-23 What to Do If You Haven’t Received a Form W-2 Filing with Form 4852 may slow your refund while the IRS verifies the numbers, but that’s better than a late-filing penalty.
You can also request a wage and income transcript from the IRS, which shows the W-2 data your employer reported to the SSA. Transcripts are available through your IRS online account or by submitting Form 4506-T.12Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 159, How to Get a Wage and Income Transcript Wage data for the most recent tax year may not appear until well into the following year, so a transcript is more useful for past-year figures than for a current deadline.
Check your Copy B against your final pay stub as soon as you receive it. Common errors include wrong Social Security numbers, incorrect addresses, and wage figures that don’t match your records. If something is off, ask your employer for a corrected version. Corrections are issued on Form W-2c.13Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-2 C, Corrected Wage and Tax Statements
Wait for the W-2c before filing if you can. Filing with wrong numbers usually causes more problems than a short delay. If your employer refuses to correct the error or won’t respond, file using Form 4852 with your best estimate of the correct figures.14Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement
If you already filed using Form 4852 or an incorrect W-2 and later receive a W-2c showing different amounts, amend your return with Form 1040-X.15Internal Revenue Service. W-2 – Additional, Incorrect, Lost, Non-Receipt, Omitted Ignoring the correction won’t make the discrepancy disappear. The IRS matches W-2 data against your return, and mismatches generate automatic notices.
One more thing worth knowing. The IRS warns that anyone who uses Form 4852 to understate income or inflate withholding faces serious penalties, including a 20% accuracy-related penalty, a 75% civil fraud penalty, or a $5,000 frivolous-return penalty.10Internal Revenue Service. Form 4852 – Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement Form 4852 is a legitimate fallback when your employer won’t cooperate, not a workaround for the numbers you’d prefer to report.