My wife's last name (same as mine) was misspelled (one extra letter) on the W-2 she got as a household employee. SSN is correct. It was a mistake by the accountant that handles the employer's business. The employer says it shouldn't matter.

Will it *really* matter?

tecsherman asks,

My wife's last name (same as mine) was misspelled (one extra letter) on the W-2 she got as a household employee. SSN is correct. It was a mistake by the accountant that handles the employer's business. The employer says it shouldn't matter. Will it?

Technically, the SSN is the most important, but the name acts as a cross-check.

Two reasons why you should insist the employer issue a corrected W2 immediately:

1. The IRS may send back your return if it spots the error, delaying your refund. It's up to you to submit the correct W2.

2. Your Social Security contributions may not get properly credited to you if the name doesn't exactly match the SSN. Don't wait to correct it years from now.

Thanks for the advice. We are going to be paying more tax, not getting a refund, so delaying the refund is not an issue, but everything else you mentioned is.

IIRC, the only real problem with a misspelled name is that you can't file your return electronically.

Ira