Toast Payroll: Get Help With Form W-2s

In this Article:

What's new for 2026 tax filing and what do I need to do?
Prepare for Form W-2s
Locate, Download, and Print Form W-2s
Additional Resources

What's new for 2026 tax filing and what do I need to do?

The One Big Beautiful Act has "no taxes on tips" and "no taxes on overtime" provisions. This means individual employee tax deductions are available for eligible employees when they file their 2025 personal income tax return in 2026. To aid in this personal tax filing, Toast Payroll has indicated these tip amounts and overtime premium amounts on employee profiles in Toast Payroll under My Profile > Taxes & Documents > Year End Documents. Toast Payroll: No Tax on Tips and/or Overtime offers more information. See an accountant or tax professional for advice.

Prepare for Form W-2s

What is an electronic Form W-2? Why is it better for me and my employees?

An electronic or digital Form W-2 acts just like a paper Form W-2 in that it can be used to file taxes. The difference is it can be opened and/or downloaded by employees from the MyToast app or from Toast Payroll any time they need it. This is more secure than distributing or mailing the Form W-2 since the form does contain an employee’s complete Social Security number (SSN). It also cannot be lost or stolen.

Employers are required to provide a paper Form W-2 to all employees unless the employer has consent from the employee that they choose to access the form electronically. Toast Payroll provides this consent form during the employee new hiring steps and defaults to electronic Form W-2 distribution for those who do not make a selection. You can verify the active employees who have opted into an electronic copy by navigating to Reports > Tax Filing > Year End Documents.

In any case, customers can always decide to print Form W-2's for any/all employees who opted into electronic copies by navigating to Taxes and selecting the download icon (downward arrow) in the Employees opting for electronic W-2s tile. You will receive a PDF file containing all Form W-2s for employees who opted to receive theirs electronically. You can then choose to print all or select Form W-2s from this bulk file.

How will switching to electronic Form W-2s save me time and money?

Any employees who do not opt into electronic Form W-2s during onboarding will require paper Form W-2s distributed by the employer. These must be printed and, per the SSA, must be postmarked or delivered to employees by January 31st, so this method incurs paper costs and time to print, package, and send/distribute. Also, employers might not have accurate contact information for former employees which could take extra time to track down. This can be avoided by encouraging employees to opt into electronic form distribution, especially since employees can print their electronic Form W-2 themselves, if necessary.

How do my employees fill out the electronic Form W-2 consent form?

When an employee is hired, they will opt into an electronic or paper Form W-2 before they begin the New Hire Checklist. Toast Payroll will ask them to select how they would like year-end documents delivered. Electronic delivery is the preferred and defaulted selection. Once the employee accepts the terms and conditions and selects Confirm, they will continue to the New Hire Checklist steps. This only needs to be done once and not annually, unless the employee wants to change their election (see the next question).

What if an employee wants to switch their election?

This must be done before the company submits their last payroll of the year, when Toast collects the Form W-2 settings for each employee and employer. Employees who have filled out the consent form before and wish to change their election can do so by navigating to My Profile > Taxes & Documents > Year End Documents. Select the Edit pencil to change the delivery method. Once the intended option is selected, provide an e-signature and select Save. This is then stored in the employee’s Document Library tab.

How can I see who has filled out the electronic Form W-2 consent form?

Managers can see active employees who have opted into an electronic Form W-2 by navigating to Reports > Tax Filing and selecting the Year End Documents button.

On this report, the column labeled Electronic Forms will indicate which employees have opted into electronic Form W-2s and completed the consent form. Managers can edit an active employee’s election on behalf of the employee by selecting the checkbox for the employee(s) they wish to edit and selecting the yellow Edit button at the bottom of the page.

You can also create a custom report that includes the Electronic Year End Documents field to see who has opted into the electronic Form W-2s, who has selected for paper, and who is "unknown" indicating that the employee has not yet logged into Toast Payroll to make a selection (in which case they will be offered a paper Form W-2). Use the Employee Attributes template for this custom report.

When does the employee opt-in and consent need to be done by?

Toast Payroll must have an opt-in from employees requesting paper Form W-2s before the last payroll of the year has been submitted. Any employee who has opted for a paper Form W-2 will have a paper form, either in the Tax Center or shipped from Toast, that will need to be distributed to the employee by the employer.

Locate, Download, and Print Form W-2s

Where can my employees find their electronic Form W-2?

You can post a notice in a high-traffic area of your restaurant regarding when and where employees may access their Form W-2. Otherwise, there's two ways an employee can get their digital Form W-2: the MyToast app and Toast Payroll.

In 2026, all currently active employees can use the MyToast app to view and download their Form W-2 on or after January 19. Scan the QR code below to download the app for both Apple and Android devices. Read The MyToast App: Account for details on downloading or logging into the app. After logging into the app, navigate to Pay > Access Tax Forms (W2s) and select a Form W-2.

If a former/terminated employee needs their Form W-2 or an employee doesn't want to use the MyToast app, they can log into Toast Payroll on or after January 19. They should then select View taxes & Documents on the homepage to view or download an individual Form W-2 or 1095-C, if applicable.

Employees can watch this video to find their Form W-2 in Toast Payroll and learn how to understand the information on it.

If I have employees who opted for a paper Form W-2, how do they get it?

If your company opted into self-serve Form W-2s, you will download, print, and distribute them for employees who requested paper forms. Visit the Receive Form W-2s section of Toast Payroll: Manage the Form W-2 Experience for a list of steps.

If you opted to have Toast Payroll print Form W-2s for employees who requested paper forms, Toast will mail these to you, but you're still responsible for individually distributing them to employees by the SSA deadline of January 31st.

Will my employees be notified when their electronic Form W-2 is available?

All Form W-2s will be available in the MyToast app and the Toast Payroll system on January 19th, 2026. Active employees are notified via the MyToast app once their form is available. Employees who opted into electronic Form W-2s are responsible for accessing their own Form W-2s.

What is included on Form W-2? Who gets one?

Form W-2s include taxable wages earned by employees within a calendar year and any taxes that were withheld from those wages. Employers are required to provide a Form W-2 to each employee that receives wages. The Form W-2 is also filed with the IRS and employees use the form to file personal taxes.

All employees who have recorded taxable wages within a calendar year will receive a Form W-2. These can be accessed by current and former employees via the MyToast app or Toast Payroll. Per the Social Security Administration (SSA), employees who did not consent to an electronic Form W-2 will need a form printed and mailed or distributed to them by January 31 of each year.

What are my options for distributing Form W-2s to my employees?

There are three options to distribute Form W-2s through Toast Payroll:

Electronic/Digital Form W-2s
Self-Serve Paper Form W-2s
Paper Form W-2s Printed by Toast

Form W-2s will be available on January 19th, 2026. To determine how to distribute them, consider the following:

Both current and former employees can always access electronic Form W-2s on Toast Payroll as long as they incurred wages in the last calendar year. Electronic Form W-2s do not require any further action from employers.
Toast Payroll checks for any employees who opted into a paper Form W-2 at the beginning of each new year. Once we do this, elections cannot be changed for the upcoming Form W-2.
For any employees who elected for a paper Form W-2, they will need to be printed by the employer or Toast Payroll. This depends on which Form W-2 printing selection is made on the Taxes page before the last payroll of the year has been submitted (this selection will become available in late October or early November). After that submission, any changes to this setting will be reflected in the next year-end season.

Electronic/Digital Form W-2s

Managers and system administrators can consent to electronic Form W-2s on behalf of an employee by navigating to the employee’s profile, selecting Taxes & Documents > Year End Forms, and changing the selection (this applies to active and terminated employees).

For active employees only, you may also apply bulk consent by going to Reports > Tax Filing and selecting the Year End Documents button.

Note: The IRS requires employees to consent to receive Form W-2s electronically instead of a paper copy. In addition, if an employee prefers to receive a paper copy of their Form W-2, they have the right to request that option from the company. Learn more from the IRS here.

Self-Serve Paper Form W-2 Printing

If employees elect into a paper Form W-2, customers will default to the self-serve method for those forms. This is the recommended option, as there are no fees associated and you have the ability to print and distribute immediately as forms become available.

With self-serve printing enabled by default, employers are expected to print and distribute Form W-2 forms to employees in accordance with SSA regulations, but this only requires Form W-2 printing and distribution for employees who did not opt into electronic delivery. For easy identification, the Tax Center separates Form W-2s for employees who opted into an electronic copy vs a paper copy. Form W-2 PDFs will become available to print on January 19 and can be found under Taxes.

To bulk print your company's paper Form W-2s, begin by navigating to Taxes in Toast Payroll. On and after January 19, you'll see a new button labeled 2025 Paper W-2s. Select this to receive a PDF file containing all Form W-2s for employees who opted into a paper copy. You may have more than one file if you have over 100 paper Form W-2s. If you like, you can choose to print select Form W-2s from this bulk file. Read Toast Payroll: Download and Print Form W-2s (for Employers) for additional details.

Paper Form W-2s Printed by Toast

Toast Payroll can print and ship Form W-2s for employees who opted into a paper copy (i.e. did not consent to receive an electronic Form W-2) or who never logged in to make a Form W-2 selection (so they will be issued a paper copy). Toast Payroll charges $5 per printed form plus standard shipping fees. To have Toast Payroll print and mail Form W-2s, you must opt-out of self-serve printing before the last payroll of the year has been submitted. Navigate to Taxes and change the toggle to Mail to business (Paid). The toggle for self-printing vs Toast-printing Form W-2s becomes available in late October or early November of each year.

When self-serve printing is disabled (Mail to business is selected), Toast will print and deliver any Form W-2s for employees who have opted into them at a fee of $5 per printed form plus standard shipping fees. One package of printed Form W-2s will be delivered per FEIN. Individual Form W-2s in the package will need to be distributed to employees in accordance with SSA regulations. Toast Payroll does not mail Form W-2s directly to employees.

How can I check the delivery address for my paper Form W-2s?

Visit the Tax Center by navigating to Taxes in Toast Payroll. The address will be visible under the shaded banner at the top. If you would like to change this address, contact us via the blue chat button in the lower-right corner of any Toast Payroll page.

I want to print Form W-2s for all of my employees. How can I do that?

Whether you chose for Toast or your company to print and mail Form W-2s for employees who opted into a paper copy, the Tax Center has a download arrow for Employees opting for electronic W-2s. Navigate to Taxes and select this download arrow to receive PDFs of all Form W-2s for employees who chose the electronic (digital) option. Additionally, select the download arrow for the Employees requiring paper W-2s section or the 2025 Paper W-2s button at the top. These two files combined represent all the Form W-2s Toast prepared for your company.

How can closed restaurants access Form W-2s?

When a restaurant closes, proper account closing procedures need to be followed. If it is prior to the end of the calendar year, customers should tell Toast Payroll to file for them and generate their year-end tax documents. If an employee of a closed restaurant is looking for a Form W-2, they will be able to access it from Toast Payroll using the same steps. If a restaurant uses another payroll service after Toast Payroll or at the end of the same calendar year, that payroll service will be responsible for tax filing and producing Form W-2s for the restaurant.

Additional Resources

This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for advice.