Back taxes
How to get your old W-2s and 1099s, even from years ago
Behind on a few years? You don't need to track down every employer. The IRS keeps copies of almost everything filed under your name. Here's exactly how to get them.
Updated August 2026 · 6 min read
If you're filing a back year, the scary part usually isn't the math. It's that you no longer have the paperwork. A W-2 from a job you left in 2020, a 1099 from a client you barely remember. Here's the good news: you almost certainly don't need to find them one by one.
The IRS already has copies of everything
Every time an employer, bank, or client files a W-2 or 1099 using your Social Security number, a copy goes to the IRS. They keep those copies in something called your Wage & Income transcript, kept for the current year plus roughly the last ten. It is the single most useful document for catching up on old taxes, and it's free.
One transcript can list your wages, withholding, interest, dividends, retirement distributions, and most 1099 income for an entire year: the raw material for that year's federal return, all in one place.
Good to know
The most recent year's transcript can be incomplete until later in the year, because employers and banks have until spring to file. For a year that's already closed, it's complete.
How to get your Wage & Income transcript
Three ways, easiest first:
- 01Online (fastest). Go to IRS.gov and open an Individual Online Account. You'll verify your identity through ID.me (a photo ID and a phone). Once you're in, open “Get Transcript,” then choose the Wage & Income transcript for each year you need.
- 02By mail. Fill out IRS Form 4506-T, check the “Wage & Income transcript” box, and mail or fax it in. It's free, and the transcript arrives by mail in about ten business days.
- 03By phone. Call the IRS automated transcript line and ask for Wage & Income transcripts to be mailed to the address they have on file.
Pull one for every year you're behind. Together they show most of what each year's return needs.
When you still need the actual document
The transcript carries the federal numbers, which is enough to prepare the federal return. A few things it may not fully include:
- State withholding detail: some state returns want the actual W-2. Your old employer's payroll provider (ADP, Gusto, Paychex, Workday) usually keeps your pay records in an online portal, even after you've left.
- Cost basis for investment sales: a 1099-B may show what you sold for but not what you paid. Your brokerage can send a full statement with both.
- Mortgage interest and property records: for a rental, you'll want the 1098 and any refinance paperwork from your lender.
If a company is out of business, the transcript is your fallback. If a document is truly gone, the IRS lets you file a substitute (Form 4852) using the transcript's figures.
You can also have someone pull it for you
You don't have to do any of this yourself. With one signed authorization, IRS Form 8821, a tax professional can pull your transcripts directly and see every year and every form at once. It's usually faster than setting up an online account, and it doesn't ask you to verify your identity through a portal.
The shortcut
This is exactly what we do. You tell us the years you're behind, we pull your IRS transcripts, and we show you a plain checklist of what's actually missing. Then a licensed CPA files each year. No shoebox, no hunting employer by employer.
Or skip all of it.
Tell us the years you're behind. We pull your IRS transcripts, show you a plain checklist of what's actually missing, and a licensed CPA files each year, for a flat price you lock up front. Free to start, no account.
See what you're missing, free →