Are you missing a W2, 1099 or other tax form?

If you don’t receive a W-2 or 1099, is this a defense to protect yourself from not reporting the income during an audit?

In short, the answer is no. You are required to report your income whether your employer or customer filed the correct form or not. So what can you do to ensure you do not find an audit surprise in your future due to a simple omission of income from a report you did not receive? Here are some tips:

 

If you receive a notice from the IRS regarding a possible missing item, consider filing an information request to see what the IRS has on file for you. It may help better identify the area of mismatch.