When will I get my W-2, and what if it never arrives?

The deadline is furnishing, not receipt

The 31 January deadline is for the employer to furnish the form — posting it, or making it available electronically if you consented to that. A form posted on 31 January can legitimately arrive in the first week of February. Give it until roughly mid-February before treating it as missing.

If it has not arrived

1. 1Check your electronic delivery. A surprising share of missing W-2s are sitting in a payroll portal the employee has not logged into since onboarding.
2. 2Confirm the address on file — especially if you moved during the year.
3. 3Contact the employer or the payroll provider. Most are resolved here.
4. 4Contact the IRS if it is still missing after mid-February. They will contact the employer on your behalf.
5. 5File anyway if the deadline approaches. Form 4852 is a substitute for a missing W-2, built from your own pay records.

If it is wrong

Ask the employer for a corrected Form W-2c. Do not adjust the figures yourself on the return — the IRS matches what the employer filed, and a mismatch generates a notice regardless of who was right.

And if you live in Washington and work for an Oregon employer, check the state box before anything else. Oregon withholding on days you worked at home in Vancouver is generally recoverable.