The Social Security Administration has released the Specifications for Filing Forms W-2 Electronically (EFW2) and Forms W-2c Electronically (EFW2C) for tax year 2026 reporting.
The most significant changes are new fields added to the RE, RW, RO, and RU records to support the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime provisions. The RE (Employer) Record includes a new Employer Signature PIN field, and the RW (Employee) Record gains two new Treasury Tipped Occupation Code fields. The RO (Employee Optional) and RU (Total Optional) Records see the largest changes: the combined “Uncollected Employee Tax on Tips (Codes A and B)” field is retired after tax year 2025 and split into two separate fields, and three new Box 12 codes are introduced.
The three new codes are TA (Trump Account contributions), TP (cash tips reported to the employer), and TT (qualified overtime compensation). Four existing Box 12 codes that previously had no dedicated EFW2 field also gain one: Code J (Nontaxable Sick Pay), Code K (20% Excise Tax on Excess Golden Parachute Payments), Code L (Substantiated Employee Business Expense Reimbursements), and Code P (Excludable Moving Expense Reimbursements Paid Directly to a Member of the U.S. Armed Services). The EFW2C’s RCE, RCW, RCO, and RCU records received corresponding updates.
The list of money fields SSA maintains on an employee’s earnings record is also updated: Simple Retirement Account and Aggregate Deferrals Under Section 83(i) Elections as of the Close of the Calendar Year are removed from that list, while the new Codes TA, TP, and TT are added to the list of money fields SSA does not maintain.
Additionally, the IRS’s Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) system is being replaced by the Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) beginning with tax year 2026/filing season 2027, and electronic extension requests via Form 8809 must now be filed through IRIS rather than FIRE. The electronic filing due date moves to February 1, 2027, and the annual Social Security wage base and maximum employee tax figures have been updated to $184,500 and $11,439, respectively.
The tax year 2026 EFW2 can be found here.
The tax year 2026 EFW2C can be found here.
