Employees To Receive Electronic W-2s

For the first time, Duke employees will be able to access electronic versions of their 2011 W-2 tax forms in January.

All staff and faculty will also receive a paper copy of the 2011 form, but they will have the option to opt out and only receive an electronic copy later in calendar year 2012.

Those who want to get a jump on filing taxes will be able to view and print their W-2 online using the Duke@Work self-service website. Dates for online access will be communicated in January.

W-2 earnings information (beginning with the 2011 tax year) will be available under the "MyPay" tab, along with online pay statements and state and federal tax withholding elections.

The printed W-2s will be distributed to department payroll representatives, but "in the coming year, we'll be asking employees to opt out of receiving paper copies of their W-2s, as we did with paper pay statements," said Anne Comilloni, director of operations for Corporate Payroll Services.

Employees will continue to receive paper W-2s unless they consent to electronic-only delivery of their W-2, in accordance with an Internal Revenue Service requirement.

Electronic W-2s offer several advantages over paper W-2s, including:

• Ease of access: Forms are available for viewing and printing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Employees can access the site from any computer by logging in with NetID and password.
• Quicker availability, with the elimination of delays due to printing and mailing.
• Email notification when the electronic W-2 is available.

Corporate Payroll Services often receives requests for W-2s for mortgage verifications, Comilloni said: "Now people can go online and print their W-2 whenever they need it."

Going paperless also will help reduce expenses for the university and health system. Duke typically generates two sets of about 44,000 paper W-2s, one for distribution and another for official Duke records.

Reducing the number of printed W-2s will cut the cost of printing and handling of paper forms, reduce the number of W-2s returned due to incorrect mailing addresses, and support Duke's sustainability initiative, Comilloni said.

Electronic W-2s will not be available for terminated employees who are no longer working with Duke. For more information about Duke@Work or electronic W-2s, visit http://hr.duke.edu/selfservice/ or call the Corporate Payroll Services team at 684-2642 with questions.