IRS Issues Draft Instructions for 2020 Forms W-2, W-3

Draft instructions for reporting employee wage and tax information in 2020 were released Feb. 4 by the Internal Revenue Service.

The instructions for Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, and W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, include information on the truncation of Social Security numbers on Forms W-2 that are furnished to employees after Dec. 31, 2020. However, an employee’s Social Security number should not be shortened on Copy A of the W-2 series of forms, the IRS said.

To shorten the nine-digit Social Security number, the first five digits should be replaced with asterisks or Xs, the instructions ...