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Why You Should NOT Buy W-2 Forms from the Office Store

It’s Simple, the W2 Forms from Office Max, Staples and Other Stores are not Efficient.

They only have 1 style of form, the Traditional 2up W-2, for employee copies.

This is the SLOWEST way to print W-2 forms.

Plus, it means another trip to the store that you probably don’t have time for.

The traditional W-2 layout has the same form on the top and the bottom (thus, the 2up label – 2 forms, 1 page). It forces you to print 2 different employees on one sheet, then separate and collate the forms to mail to each employee. It takes forever to pull apart all the forms and then find the matching employee and put them in envelopes.

The Better Way: Condensed W-2 forms.

A condensed W-2 form has multiple copies on the same sheet of paper, but they’re all for the same employee. You just print the form, fold it, stuff the envelope and you’re done. There is no separating or collating forms.

2-up Condensed W-2 Form has copy B on the top and C on the bottom. Use this one if you only need to file with the federal government.

3-up Condensed W-2 Forms have copy B on the top, 2 in the middle and C on the bottom. Use this one if you only need to file with the federal and state governments.

4-up Condensed W-2 Forms have copy B, two copy 2 forms and copy C, usually in a quadrant format. Use this one if you need to file with the federal, state and city/local governments.

***IMPORTANT NOTE*** Since there is no ‘IRS standard’ format for condensed forms, software companies program them differently. It is very important to get the right format for your software or the data will not align in the boxes properly.

 

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W-2 Efiling Options