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I'm going through a background check with an employer and they have requested my W-2's for the years that I started and ended previous jobs. I'm not very happy about it, but I really, really need and want this job, otherwise I'd tell them it's none of your business. The company has hired A-Check, and the company (not A-Check) sent me an email asking me to "assist" with the process and send them certain documentation.
The issue is that I was fired from a job a couple years ago, and I'm worried that if I provide my W-2's that they'll be able to pull up my tax returns and see another job on there that I didn't disclose. Would they be able to see this information? I didn't lie about my salaries. I'm thinking about just not sending them the W-2's and see if A-Check requests them specifically.
Just send them the W2's for the jobs listed on your resume or job application. If they can pull up your tax returns (they have your SS# already, right?) why would they ask for W2's?
The type of document that would give a 3rd party permission to order your W2s (like a 4506T form) would also let them order your full returns; however, just giving them your W2s would not.
Do you even have those? I'd say I didn't keep them. I do my taxes online too so I don't keep the W-2s. I mean, can't they look that up on a background check anyways?
Even if you don't write in an employer just say you didn't think it was relevant to the job so you didn't put it on your application.
They can't get your full return from a W2 but you still might have a problem with your nondisclosure. Sometimes an employer will show on your credit bureau records which they can easily get with your SS. Also, did they ask for a copy of your annual SSA report? That shows your reported earnings from all sources which they could compare to your W2's.
Remember, they don't have to "prove" anything. If they even get a bad vibe that things aren't on the level they can dq you.
Employer's cannot order your W2s without you signing the 4506T form granting them permission. If they demand W2s and he doesn't have them, I would guess that rather than letting it go they'll just ask him to sign that form, and at that point they WILL be able to get 1040s, 1099s, and any tax transcripts if they so desired.
Since he doesn't want them seeing his full returns, better to just give them the W2s. If he doesn't have them currently, he should order them himself.
Do you even have those? I'd say I didn't keep them. I do my taxes online too so I don't keep the W-2s. I mean, can't they look that up on a background check anyways?
Even if you don't write in an employer just say you didn't think it was relevant to the job so you didn't put it on your application.
Like I said, they don't have to "prove" anything. If they think you're being evasive, they can ask for further documentation or just write you off. If I was an interviewer or HR admin and my company policy was to require W2's and you gave me some unlikely "excuse" I would probably just say "Next!". If I really needed you I might say "well then submit your actual tax returns, you can redact all but name, SS, and gross earnings." Or maybe "contact your previous employers and get a copy".
I'm going through a background check with an employer and they have requested my W-2's...
The issue is that I was fired from a job a couple years ago, and I'm worried that if I provide my W-2's
that they'll be able to pull up my tax returns and see another job on there that I didn't disclose.
My suspicion is that they have already found these discrepancies (or enough to infer them) from
other commonly available sources (like credit reports)... and want/need the hard facts before
making the hard decision.
Not necessarily. Asking for W2s is becoming a more common practice among employers, it isn't necessarily a sign that they something wrong. Anyway, he's got nothing to lose.
Feel free, if you think you can get away with it, to give them fake ones. Nothing illegal about it, unless you try to defraud the government.
In this day and age, employers are getting more and more intrusive like this, and lying and deception are just as legitimate in the employment arena as they are in warfare.
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