Form W-3: Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements (Info Copy Only)

If you file Form W-2, you file Form W-3. It is the transmittal that goes on top of paper Copy A of your Forms W-2, and you need one even when you are sending a single paper Form W-2. Never send Form W-3 by itself. Household employers count too, so an employer with one household employee still files it and checks the Hshld. emp. box in box b. Both the Form W-3 and the Forms W-2 have to show the correct tax year and employer identification number.

• One Form W-3 per kind of Form W-2, sent in separate groups
• Agents with an approved Form 2678 file one Form W-3 for all the Forms W-2
• A transmitter or sender may sign for you if it is authorized by an agency agreement and writes For (name of payer) next to the signature

Mail Form W-3 with Copy A of your Forms W-2 by February 1, 2027. The same date applies if you file electronically instead. You may request one 30-day extension by submitting a complete Form 8809 before the due date and signing it under penalties of perjury, but the IRS grants that only in extraordinary circumstances or catastrophe, such as a natural disaster or a fire destroying the books and records you need. No further extension is allowed. If you terminate your business, the deadline becomes the due date of your final Form 941 or 944.

Send the entire Form W-3 page along with the entire Copy A page of your Forms W-2. Photocopies are not acceptable, and you should not send any payment with the forms. Do not staple or tape Form W-3 to the Forms W-2, and do not fold them, because these forms are machine read and staple holes or tears get in the way. Send them flat, with the Forms W-2 arranged either alphabetically by last name or numerically by social security number.

• Social Security Administration, Direct Operations Center, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18769-0001
• Certified Mail: change the ZIP code to 18769-0002
• IRS-approved private delivery service: add ATTN: W-2 Process, 1150 E. Mountain Dr. and change the ZIP code to 18702-7997

No. Do not file Form W-3 for Forms W-2 that you submitted electronically to the SSA. On the SSA's Business Services Online site, Form W-3 is generated automatically from your Forms W-2. W-2 Online lets you create, save, print, and submit up to 50 Forms W-2 at a time, and File Upload handles wage files built by payroll or tax software. You must e-file if you are required to file at least 10 information returns for the year, counting your Forms W-2. To request a waiver from that, file Form 8508 at least 45 days before the due date.

Use black ink and 12-point Courier font, and send the whole page. The money amounts are totals from only the Forms W-2 you are sending with this Form W-3, and you leave out any Form W-2 marked VOID. Box 9 gets no amount and box 13 stays blank. Your totals should agree with what you reported on Forms 941, 943, 944, CT-1, or Schedule H (Form 1040), so hold on to your reconciliation notes in case the IRS or SSA asks. Make a copy of Form W-3 and keep it with Copy D of your Forms W-2 for at least 4 years.

Form W-3 now carries OMB number 1545-0029. Box 12a still totals the amounts reported with codes D through H, S, Y, AA, BB, and EE on your Forms W-2, and the new 2026 codes TA, TP, and TT are not reported on Form W-3 at all. Failure to file and failure to furnish penalties went up with inflation for returns required to be filed after December 31, 2026. For wages paid after calendar year 2025, the wage reporting threshold when no federal income, social security, or Medicare tax was withheld rises from $600 to $2,000.

• Box 14 on the 2026 Form W-2 was split into box 14a, Other, and box 14b, Treasury Tipped Occupation Code(s)
• Box 9 on the 2026 Form W-2 was reduced in size to make room in box 14a