4852 Form 2022

How you’ll report the income earned during the tax year for tax filing purposes is simple – your employer furnishes you with a copy of Form W-2. 

However, this isn’t always the case, especially if the business you worked for is shutting down or there are internal problems that don’t get processed the way they should. Regardless of the reason, you don’t necessarily need to wait for your W-2 to file a federal income tax return. There is an alternative, and that is Form 4852.

This article will go over the uses of Form 4852, how it can save you in certain situations, and provide you an online fillable copy of the form to print out a paper copy and save it for your own records. 

What is Form 4852?

Form 4852 is the replacement or substitute for W-2. When your employer is exceptionally late for furnishing you a copy of Form W-2, you can file Form 4852 to report the income you earned during the tax year yourself. This form comes in handy in situations where you need to file your tax return as soon as possible but can’t due to the missing W-2.

File Form 4852 online PDF

You can file the above Form 4852 on your computer. However, you can’t e-file your tax return in that case. This is due to the IRS not accepting electronically filed Forms 4852. The fillable PDF provided on our site is not a part of the IRS e-file – treat it like any other PDF file that you can fill out online.

Use your last pay stub to see the income you earned and taxes withheld from your paychecks. This is the only way for figuring out the right amounts for most taxpayers, but if there is an electronic accounting system you have access to, that does the trick as well. 

When to file Form 4852

Aside from your employer not furnishing you a copy of Form W-2 to file a federal income tax return, you can also use it to report income when it’s an incorrect W-2.

Although it’s commonly used by employees that don’t have their Forms W-2, Form 4852 can also be used for 1099-R, but the chances are your retirement account provider will send you a copy, and you can always request another one in case you’ve lost the W-2.

Attaching Form 4852 to 1040

There is no special need for attaching Form 4852 to your federal income tax return. Attach Form 4852 like any other tax form when preparing a paper tax return. Since you’ll need to keep these documents orderly in the envelope, staple them on the top left or right corner along with other tax forms.