Compliance June 11, 2001

IRS Rubber Stamps Online Delivery of W2s

November 6, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Issuing deliberately vague guidelines, the Internal Revenue Service announced that employers are permitted to deliver their 2001 W-2 forms via e-mail.

Reported by

Camilla Klein

George Blaine, IRS chief counsel spokesperson told the Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee (IRPAC) that the IRS did not “want to get into limitations” when it crafted the proposed and temporary regulations last winter.

He took the view that the agency wanted the proposal to be sufficiently vague to allow for future, secure electronic delivery mechanisms.

When an IRPAC member expressed concern that the regulations did not specifically allow the use of e-mail, Blaine said IRS would consider adding examples of approved, secure delivery mechanisms to the regulations when they are finalized.