The tax form your employer sends each January summarizing your wages and taxes withheld for the prior year. Lenders use it to verify your employment income history.
The W-2 is the standard year-end tax form your employer files with the IRS and sends to you each January. It shows your total wages, Social Security and Medicare wages, federal and state income tax withheld, and any other contributions (retirement, health insurance) for the year.
For mortgage purposes, lenders typically ask for the last two years of W-2s. They use them to confirm that your income has been stable or increasing. A big drop year-over-year, a change in jobs, or gaps in employment all get flagged for explanation.
If you've changed jobs in the past two years, that's usually fine — you just need to be in the same line of work, and the lender will want a current pay stub showing you're employed at the new place.
Example
When you apply with Benchmark, you provide your 2024 and 2025 W-2s showing $96K and $102K respectively. Combined with your recent pay stub showing year-to-date earnings on pace with $108K, the underwriter feels confident your income is real and growing.
Also known as
W-2 form, IRS Form W-2, wage and tax statement