when do w2s have to be mailed

For U.S. federal taxes, employers generally must have employees’ W‑2s mailed or otherwise furnished by January 31 following the end of the tax year.

2025 income, 2026 mailing date

For the 2025 tax year (the return you file in 2026):

• The legal deadline for employers to send W‑2 forms to employees is January 31, 2026.

• Because January 31, 2026 falls on a weekend, many summaries note that you may actually see W‑2s arriving in the first days of February, and some guidance frames February 2, 2026 as the effective access date for W‑2s that year.

• Employers also must file W‑2s with the Social Security Administration by the same general season deadline (for 2025 wages, that filing deadline is early February 2026 for paper/e‑file, with practical e‑file cutoffs slightly earlier so they can be processed on time).

In plain terms: for a typical year, W‑2s have to be mailed or otherwise provided to you no later than January 31 , but it’s normal for them to physically show up in your mailbox or online portal in late January or very early February.