Not on its own. You cannot file a tax return with only your last pay stub while your W-2 is still on its way. The stub becomes usable through Form 4852, the IRS substitute for a W-2, and only after you have tried the employer and then the IRS.
Tax preparers are held to the same line. The IRS bars e-file providers from sending a return before they have the W-2, and allows it once Form 4852 is completed. That is why software and preparers ask for the W-2 even when your final stub shows the same totals.
The order the IRS expects
Your employer has until February 1, 2027 to get your W-2 to you. Missed that date? Write to whoever runs payroll, by email or letter if you no longer work there. Our guide to asking a former employer for a W-2 has wording you can copy.
Still nothing by the end of February? Call the IRS at 800-829-1040 with your dates of employment and the employer’s name, address and phone number. The IRS contacts the employer and sends you Form 4852. If the W-2 still will not arrive in time, that form is how you file.
Which situation are you in?
| Your situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| It is January and the W-2 just has not come yet | Wait. Employers have until the deadline, and a return sent early cannot be fixed by the stub. |
| You left the job and the W-2 never came | Ask in writing, call the IRS after the end of February, then Form 4852 from your last stub. |
| The W-2 came but the numbers look wrong | Ask for a corrected W-2. If none comes, Form 4852 with the right figures. |
| The employer closed or will not answer | Same route: the IRS contacts the employer, and Form 4852 covers you if nothing arrives. |
| You were paid as a contractor | No W-2 or Form 4852. Report the income from your own records, with or without a 1099-NEC. |
| You have no final stub either | Use bank deposits and any stub you have as your best estimate, and say so on line 9. |
The contractor row matters more than it looks. A 1099 worker has no W-2 to wait for, so there is nothing to substitute: you report the income from your own invoices and deposits. Our guide to what a 1099 form is covers the rest.
Filling in Form 4852 from your final stub
Line 7 of Form 4852 tells you to use your final pay stub when you have no complete W-2. Take the year-to-date column, not the last paycheck. Here is the final stub from a warehouse job an invented worker left in August:
| Line on the stub | Year to date |
|---|---|
| Gross pay | $26,520.00 |
| Federal income tax | $1,584.91 |
| Social Security | $1,621.12 |
| Medicare | $379.10 |
| Missouri income tax | $566.10 |
| 401(k), 4% | $1,060.80 |
| Dental, pre-tax | $374.00 |
| Net pay | $20,933.97 |
Now the step most answers skip. Line 7a is wages for income tax, which follow the W-2 rules, so pre-tax deductions come out. The 401(k) leaves line 7a but stays in Social Security and Medicare wages, while a dental premium paid through a cafeteria plan leaves all three:
| Form 4852 line | Where it comes from | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 7a Wages, tips, and other compensation | Gross $26,520.00, less the 401(k) and the dental premium | $25,085.20 |
| 7b Social security wages | Gross less the dental premium. The 401(k) stays in | $26,146.00 |
| 7c Medicare wages and tips | Same as 7b for this job | $26,146.00 |
| 7d Social security tips | No reported tips | 0.00 |
| 7e Federal income tax withheld | Year-to-date federal income tax | $1,584.91 |
| 7f State income tax withheld | Year-to-date Missouri tax, with the state named | $566.10 |
| 7g Local income tax withheld | None in Springfield | 0.00 |
| 7h Social security tax withheld | Year-to-date Social Security | $1,621.12 |
| 7i Medicare tax withheld | Year-to-date Medicare | $379.10 |
Copying gross pay straight onto line 7a would overstate this worker’s income by both deductions, and the IRS would see the mismatch once the employer’s real figures reach it. Our year-end pay stub guide traces the same rules into the W-2 boxes.
Lines 9 and 10
Line 9 asks how you worked out the amounts. “Year-to-date figures from my final pay stub dated August 21, 2026, less pre-tax 401(k) and dental deductions” is the kind of plain answer it wants. Line 10 asks what you did to get the W-2, so list the dates you asked and called.
Attach the form to the back of your return, as its instructions say, before any other forms or schedules. Keep a copy, along with the stub you used.
What happens when the real W-2 turns up
If a W-2 arrives after you file and its figures differ, you must amend with Form 1040-X. Form 4852 says plainly that you are responsible for an accurate return either way, so compare the W-2 with what you filed the day it lands.
The form also lists penalties for using it other than as intended: 20% of the tax that should have been paid for accuracy-related errors, 75% for civil fraud, and $5,000 for a frivolous return. Honest estimates from a real stub are what it is for.
After September 30 of the following year, you can check what the employer reported in your my Social Security account. A transcript of wages from the IRS shows the federal figures too, though the current year may be incomplete until employers report.
Do not make a new stub to file with
Form 4852 asks for your best estimate from records you have. A pay stub typed up now from memory is not a record of what your employer withheld, and filing on one can cost far more than the refund.
If your stubs are missing, our guide to getting old pay stubs lists where the originals live.
Sources: IRS Form 4852 and its instructions, missing or wrong W-2 steps, the e-file rule for preparers and the 2026 W-2 instructions. The warehouse worker is invented; amounts use the 2026 federal and Missouri withholding tables. Checked November 8, 2026.
