A Tennessee man seems bedeviled by the number 666.
For the third time in two years on the job as a maintenance worker at Contech Casting in Clarkesville, Tenn., Walter Slonopas has seen this disturbing numerical trio show up on work-related material.
This latest appearance was on his W-2 form.
No, it wasn't an earnings amount on the annual income statement. It was stamped on the outside of the document.
The company that handles Contech's payroll said the number simply indicated the order in which the tax forms were mailed to employees.
But that didn't ease Slonopas' mind about the warning from the "number of the beast," as it is referred to in the New Testament book of Revelation.
Slonopas quit his job because, he told The Tennessean newspaper, "If you accept that number, you sell your soul to the devil."
The newspaper reports that on Slonopas' first day of work in at Contech in April 2011 he was assigned employee number 666 instead of 668 to clock in. He complained and was given a new number.
Then in July 2011, the company changed clock systems and he got 666 again. He quit that time, too, but returned a few days later after the company apologized.
This third time, however, apparently is the evil charm that will prompt Slonopas to find a new job.
A way around a possessed, or missing, W-2: Slonopas says he won't use the 666 version to file his federal taxes. He doesn't need it for state tax purposes since Tennessee doesn't tax wage income.
Slonopas wants Contech to issue him another W-2 sans the satanic number.
Maybe he should look into using a substitute W-2, also known as IRS Form 4852.
This form typically is used by folks who don't get their annual earnings statement at all from their employers.
You can find out more about this alternative tax form, which was the Jan. 31 Daily Tax Tip, in my Bankrate article on what to do if you don't get a W-2.
Media Me: I also spoke made the media trifecta on this topic.
I talked with Ann Carrns of the New York Times Bucks blog about using a substitute W-2 (newspaper/online), Herb Weisbaum at KOMOnews.com about what to do if you're missing a W-2 (radio/online) and was a guest on Lauren Simonetti's show on FoxNews.com to discuss missing tax form filing options (television/online).
You also might find these items of interest:
