How Do I Correct an Employee’s W-2?

Even after you download and print W-2 Forms in Patriot Software and distribute W-2 forms to your employees, you can still make a correction if needed.  This depends on whether you have already filed your company’s summary W-3 with the Social Security Administration.  If you are a Full-Service Payroll customer, contact us and we can confirm whether we filed your W-2s/W-3.

Choose from these scenarios, and follow the instructions:

Scenario 1: You have NOT given W-2s to employees, and W-2s have NOT been filed.

1. Make the needed corrections to payroll.
   • This could be running an additional payroll or changing a setting on a money type/deduction/contribution. If you are unsure how to correct, please contact our Support team.
2. Preview your W-2s, and review again to make sure they are correct.
3. Recreate your W-2’s with the updated information. Follow the steps in our help article, “Download and Print W-2s“
4. Distribute the W-2s.
   • Paper: Print W-2 and hand them out.
   • Electronic: Click “Post to Employee Portal” (if the employee has opted in). They’ll receive an email notification.

Scenario 2: You HAVE given W-2s to employees, but W-2s have NOT been filed. 

• Make the needed corrections to payroll.
  • Depending on the change you need to make, this could be running an additional payroll or changing a setting on a money type/deduction/contribution. If you are unsure how to correct, please contact our Support team.
• Preview your W-2s and review to make sure they are correct.
• Recreate your W-2’s so the W-2 forms are updated with the new information by following the steps in the help article, Download and Print W-2s.
• Distribute the corrected W-2s:
  • Paper: Write “CORRECTED” on Copies B, C, and 2. Give the new W-2 to the employee.
  • Electronic: Click “Post to Employee Portal.” The employee will be notified by email.
    Note: Electronic W-2s don’t say “CORRECTED”—that’s okay. The IRS doesn’t require it for digital copies.

Scenario 3: You HAVE given W-2s to employees, and W-2s HAVE been filed.

If you discover a change is needed on a W-2 after you have filed the W-2/W-3 with the Social Security Administration, you will need to complete corrected W-2 and W-3 forms with the previously reported and the corrected information.

Full Service Payroll customers: Patriot’s tax team can file amended returns on your behalf. See our premium support article for more information.

You’ll need to submit corrected forms (W-2C and W-3C).

1. Get a copy of the original W-2 that was filed.
2. Correct your payroll data in Patriot.
3. Preview your W-2s and review to make sure they are correct.
4. Recreate your W-2’s so the W-2 forms are updated with the new information.
5. Distribute corrected W-2s
   • Paper: Write “CORRECTED” on Copies B, C, and 2. Give the new W-2 to the employee.
   • Electronic: Click “Post to Employee Portal.” The employee will be notified by email.
     Note: Electronic W-2s don’t say “CORRECTED”—that’s okay. The IRS doesn’t require it for digital copies.
6. Full Service Payroll customers: Contact our tax team if you want us to file the corrected forms on your behalf at this point. Otherwise, to file yourself, continue with the steps below.
7. Manually complete:
   • A Form W-2C for each corrected employee.
   • A Form W-3C for the totals.
8. Submit the W-3C to the SSA:
   • If you’re under the e-file threshold, you can mail the paper forms.
   • Otherwise, file online via your SSA Business Services Online account.
     For more details, see Filing Your W-3 Using Patriot Software.

Note: You do not need to use Form W-2C to correct an employee’s address. If you have already filed with the SSA, follow these instructions after correcting the employee address.

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