1999 Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 Wage and Tax Statement and Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless otherwise noted. Changes To Note Election workers.   Report on Form W-2 payments of $600 or more to election workers for services performed in state, county, and municipal elections. File Form W-2 for payments of less than $600 paid to election workers if social security and Medicare taxes were withheld under a section 218 (Social Security Act) agreement.   Do not report election worker payments on Form 1099-MISC. Extended due date for electronic filers.   If you file your 1999 Forms W-2 with the SSA electronically (not by magnetic media), the due date is extended to March 31, 2000. For information on how to file electronically, call the SSA at 1-800-772-6270. Separate fringe benefit reporting optional.   You no longer need to separately report taxable fringe benefits that are shown in box 1 of Form W-2, except for the annual lease value of a vehicle provided to your employee. However, you must report the lease value of a vehicle in box 12 or on a separate statement to your employee. Incorrect address on employee's Form W-2.   Employers may reissue a Form W-2 to the employee by placing the Form W-2 with an incorrect employee address in an envelope with the correct address for mailing to the employee. See Employee's incorrect address on Form W-2 on page 3 for details and other options. Optional reporting for USERRA makeup amounts. Employers may report certain makeup contributions by an employee to a pension plan under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) by providing a separate statement to the employee instead of by entering them in box 13 of Form W-2. See USERRA makeup amounts to a pension plan on page 6 for details. Need Help? Information reporting call site.   The IRS operates a centralized call site to answer questions about reporting on Forms W-2, W-3, 1099, and other information returns. If you have questions Contents Page about reporting on these forms, call 304-263-8700. If you have questions about magnetic media filing of Forms W-2, contact the Social Security Administration (SSA). See Magnetic media reporting on page 2. Help for people with disabilities.   Telephone help is available using TTY/TDD equipment. If you have questions about reporting on information returns—Forms 1096, 1098, 1099, 5498, W-2, W-2G, and W-3, you may call 304-267-3367. For other tax information, please call 1-800-829-4059. Bulletin board services.   Using a personal computer and a modem, you can get information from either of two electronic Bulletin Board Systems (BBS)—the SSA–BBS or the IRP–BBS (IRS). You can access the SSA–BBS by dialing 410-965-1133 or the IRP–BBS (IRS) by dialing 304-264-7070. Information available includes magnetic media filing information, some IRS and SSA forms and publications, information on electronic filing, and general topics of interest about information reporting. You can also use the bulletin board systems to ask questions about magnetic media or electronic filing programs and reporting on information returns. Employment tax publications.   Detailed employment tax information is given in: l  Circular A, Agricultural Employer's Tax Guide (Pub. 51), l  Circular E, Employer's Tax Guide (Pub. 15), l  Pub. 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide, and l  Pub. 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide. Substitute Forms If you are not using the official IRS form to furnish Form W-2 to employees or to file with the SSA, you may use an acceptable substitute form that complies with the rules in Pub. 1141, General Rules and Specifications for Private Printing of Forms W-2 and W-3. Pub. 1141, which is revised annually, is a revenue procedure that explains the requirements for format and content of substitute Forms W-2 and W-3. Your substitute forms must comply with the requirements in Pub. 1141. How To Get Forms and Publications Personal computer.   Access the IRS's Internet web site at www.irs.ustreas.gov to do the following: l  Download forms, instructions, and publications. l  See answers to frequently asked tax questions. l  Search publications on-line by topic or keyword. l  Send us comments or request help via e-mail. l  Sign up to receive hot tax issues and news by e-mail from the IRS Digital Dispatch. You can also reach us using: l  Telnet at iris.irs.ustreas.gov l  File Transfer Protocol at ftp.irs.ustreas.gov l  Direct Dial (by modem) at 703-321-8020. CD-ROM.   Order Pub. 1796, Federal Tax Products on CD-ROM, and get: l  Current year forms, instructions, and publications. Changes To Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Need Help? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Substitute Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 How To Get Forms and Publications . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Earned Income Credit (EIC) Notification . . . . . . . . . 2 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 . . . . . . 2 Special Reporting Situations for Form W-2 . . . . . . . 3 Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Specific Instructions for Form W-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Specific Instructions for Form W-3 . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice . . 11 Reference Guide for Box 13 Codes . . . . . . . . . . 12 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Cat. No. 25979S