Year-end may seem far away right now, but get ready: The IRS has just released the 2018 Form W-2.

 

Although there aren’t any big changes to the form just yet, there are some developments you should watch for, mostly dealing with the verification code in Box 9.

 

Authenticating returns

 

As a way to prevent fraud, the IRS introduced a special verification code for the W-2 as part of a pilot program.

 

Working with various payroll service providers (PSP), the agencies included the code on over 60 million Forms W-2 distributed to employees for the 2017 tax year.

 

For tax year 2018, the IRS wants to expand this initiative even more since it’s been effective at validating the authenticity of W-2 info.

 

According to experts at the American Payroll Association’s 2018 Capital Summit, instead of just focusing on PSPs, the IRS will be reaching out to companies and small businesses directly to figure out how to include the code on more W-2s. So you may want to start looking at how you could fit this extra step into your year-end workflow.

 

More info: irs.gov/FormW2