Job Aid for VITA/TCE Volunteers Using Form 4852 when Missing the Form W-2 or 1099-R Revision Date 03/21/2022

• Legal Form Number: 4852
• Year: 2020
• Issuer: Treasury Department
• Section: Treasury Department

January 2022

Using Form 4852 when Missing

the Form W-2 or 1099-R

for VITA/TCE Volunteers

When a severe disaster strikes, tax payers often find themselves unable to obtain income statements

from employers or other payors. Tax payers can use Form 4852 as a subst itute statement if their

attempts to obtain a missing Form W-2, W-2c or 1099-R from the responsible party ar e unsuccessful.

Taxpayers must explain their efforts t o obtain the missing form in Box 10 of the Form 4852.

Note: Before completing Form 4852 in TaxSlay er, you should fill out a printed c opy to ensure you

have all the necessary information. Print a hard copy from IRS.gov. Caref ully review the instructions

on the form. The following guidance ser ves as a supplement to the instruct ions.

Caution: Refer taxpayers with complex issues to a prof essional tax preparer.

What to use to complete line 7 of Form 4852 for missing W-2

1. A pay stub often has most of the information needed, especially if it was the last one for the

year and has year-to-date amounts. If it’s a n interim or other periodic pay stub, it can be used

to calculate the final amounts for t he entire period of employment as s hown in the following

examples:

■ A monthly paid employee has a stub for June showing YTD wages of $12,000 and details of

deductions. If the taxpayer worked through S eptember, the wages for line 7a wo uld be

■ $18,000 ($12,000 divided b y 6 equals $2,000 and $2,000 X 9 mont hs = $18,000) Similarly ,

calculate amounts for the other line 7 it ems.

■ A weekly paid employee has a stub showing wages of $500 and details of deductions but no

YTD amounts. Employee says their employer paid them the same dur ing 5 months of

employment. Estimating 4 weeks per month, the wage s to report on line 7a would be $10, 000

($500 X 20 weeks). Similarly, calculate amounts for the other line 7 items.

■ There should be no attempt to complete Form 4852 if a pay stub only s hows the take-home

amount. Attempt to secure a more rel iable source such as a prior year W-2 to c omplete the form.

2. A prior year W-2 can be useful if a current W-2 is not avail able:

■ If the employee had the same emp loyer and confirms their pay and deducti ons remained

essentially the same, the prior year W-2 can be the basis to calculate amou nts for the missing

W-2. For example, if the taxpayer worked all of year one but only nine m onths of year two due to

the disaster, you would report ¾ of the pr ior year’s W-2 wages, withholding, etc. in line 7 of Form

4852.

Publication 5396-A (Rev. 1-2022) Catalog Number 74010I Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service www.irs. gov