What forms are used to report employee annual wages and tax withholdings to the government?

• A. W-4 for wages; W-2 for totals to SSA.
• B. W-9 for wages; 1099-NEC for totals.
• C. 1099-MISC for wages; W-9 for totals.
• D. W-2 for employees; W-3 to transmit totals to SSA.

Answer: (D)

The key idea is which forms government agencies use to report an employee’s earnings and what was withheld during the year. For employees, the annual report of wages and tax withholdings is captured on Form W-2. Each employee receives a W-2 that shows their total wages, tips, and other compensation, along with federal income tax withheld and the amounts withheld for Social Security and Medicare (and any state or local taxes where applicable). The W-3 is the transmittal summary that accompanies all the W-2s when they’re sent to the Social Security Administration; it aggregates the totals across all employees.

Other forms mentioned serve different purposes: the W-4 is the employee’s withholding certificate that determines how much tax is withheld, not a report of wages to government; the W-9 is used to collect a taxpayer ID from a contractor and isn’t a wage report; and the 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC are used to report payments to non-employees, not payroll withholdings for employees.