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W-2 generator for small employers (2025): employee copies with the boxes computed

Household employers, tiny businesses and anyone who ran payroll by hand still owe each employee a W-2 by January 31 and a Copy A to the Social Security Administration. Enter each employee's gross wages, pre-tax deductions and what you actually withheld; boxes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and the code-12 entries are computed the way payroll software does it, and the SSA's free W-2 Online service files Copy A for you. $2.99 per employee form; preview free.

Employers only — how this stays honest

• You enter your EIN and attest the figures come from your payroll records; the copies say so and state that Copy A is filed with the SSA by the employer.
• Social Security and Medicare wages and taxes (boxes 3–6) are computed at the statutory rates from gross pay — they cannot be typed. Federal and state withholding (boxes 2 and 17) are facts from your payroll register: what you withheld under each W-4.
• An employee cannot make their own W-2 here: the SSA matches every W-2 to the employer's filing and the IRS to the employee's return.

Filing steps

1. Prepare the copies; download the PDF (one page per employee) — print Copy B and Copy C for each employee (Copy 2 for state filing where required).
2. Register at SSA Business Services Online → W-2 Online: type or upload the same figures, and it creates and files Copy A and Form W-3 electronically, free, up to 50 forms.
3. Give employees their copies by January 31; keep Copy D for four years.