I got a Form W-2 – Does this mean I must file a 1040 form and pay US Income Tax?

Dear Freedom Seeker,     

       Every January most employers across America send W-2 Forms to the IRS showing the wages earned, amounts deducted and withheld as pre-payment for Individual Income Taxes according to the W-4 Form provided by the employee, and the amounts paid for Social Security and Medicare Taxes. State and local Income Taxes withheld are also shown on the W-2 Form. A copy of the W-2 Form is provided to the employee who received the wage payments.

        You may have recently received an IRS Form W-2 yourself and are wondering whether you will be breaking the law, risking fines, penalties or even imprisonment if you do not report those payments as taxable income on a Form 1040 by April 15th.

        In this week’s Freedom Hour, Peymon Mottahedeh, Founder and President of Freedom Law School, explains the laws about W-2 Forms:

• What to do if you received a copy; and
• How to STOP:
  • Withholding of Individual Income Taxes from your pay;
  • Stop your employer from erroneously reporting your payments to the IRS on W-2 Forms in the future; as well as
  • Stop your employer from unlawfully deducting Social Security and Medicare Taxes from your pay.