REMINDER: Employers and small businesses have a new deadline, January 31, 2017, for filing Forms W-2. The acceleration of this deadline is the result of a new federal law aimed at helping the IRS detect and prevent refund fraud. For similar reasons, the new law also requires the IRS to hold refunds involving two key refundable tax credits until at least February 15, 2017. The January 31 deadline of past years for employers furnishing copies of Forms W-2 to their employees remains the same.