Overview
Preparing and filing accurate Forms W-2 is one of the most important responsibilities of payroll departments. This webinar provides a comprehensive overview of Form W-2 reporting for 2026, including new reporting requirements under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Employers must ensure that Forms W-2 are accurate, complete, and filed on time to avoid costly penalties and compliance issues.
Attendees will learn the fundamentals of preparing and filing Forms W-2, strategies to prevent common reporting errors, how to handle special reporting situations, and the appropriate steps to take when errors are identified. This session will provide practical guidance to help payroll professionals maintain compliance, reduce risk, and confidently navigate 2026 W-2 reporting requirements.
The webinar cover steps to take now to prevent or reduce filing problems and errors and how to handle special filing situations. How to verify employee name/number combinations, and how to file the forms electronically as well as on paper. It will identify common and not so common errors and adjustments that affect Forms W-2 and the steps to take when errors are discovered, cover the use of Form W-2c to make corrections and the due diligence steps that can establish reasonable cause for penalty
Why Should You Attend
Payroll taxes are a serious issue for the IRS. Two thirds of federal taxes are collected through the payroll tax system. By law, employers must withhold federal income, Social Security and Medicare taxes from employees’ wages. Employers are required to timely and correctly report this information using Form W-2 to both the Social Security Administration and to employees or face stiff penalties for non-compliance.
This webinar will provide you with information and resources you need for successful compliance with the reporting requirements and for establishing due diligence and reasonable cause for penalty avoidance when errors occur or corrections need to be made.
Areas Covered
· Changes to the Form W-2 for 2026 including the new reporting requirements for the OBBBA.
· Electronic filing thresholds for 2026
· New recordkeeping and reporting requirements for qualified tips and qualified overtime.
· Definition of qualified tips
· Definition of qualified overtime and how to compute it.
· How Social Security resources can be used to prepare, submit, and correct W-2 forms
· Due dates for filing and furnishing W-2 Forms and penalties for non-compliance
· Penalties for late or incorrect W-2 Forms: Due diligence procedures to avoid penalties
· Actions to take before year end to avoid employee information errors
· Forms W-2 and W-3 line by line: What goes in all those boxes?
· New Box 12 codes for 2026
· Changes made to current Forms W-2 and W-3
· The common W-2 errors, how to avoid them and how to correct them
· What to do when an employee’s name or tax ID number is incorrect
· Methods to reconcile Forms W-2 and 941 and what to do if differences are discovered
