How to Read a W2 Form 2018

Form W-2 is the annual "Wage and Tax Statement" that reports your taxable income earned from an employer to you and to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The grade also includes taxes withheld from your pay, equally well as Social Security and Medicare payments fabricated on your behalf by both you and your employer.

All these taxes are withheld from your pay and submitted to federal and state taxing government on your behalf. Multiple boxes appear on the form, each citing a certain portion of your earnings and withholding. Each is labeled, but agreement what each of these notations means tin can make the process of correctly transferring the data to your revenue enhancement return much easier.

What Is a West-two Grade?

Earnings are reported to the recipient, as well to the IRS, on a series of advisory forms each year. The W-ii is used only for employee earnings from which taxes have been withheld. It informs employees of the income they must claim on their tax returns and the payments they've already made.

It also advises the IRS how much income the employee should be claiming and confirms what they've paid in taxes.

Who Uses a W-2 Class?

Employees are required to report all wages earned from their jobs on their almanac revenue enhancement returns. Y'all should receive a Form West-two from your employer whether you're a role-time or full-time worker if you've earned $600 in income (noncash payments) or more from that company during the tax yr.

You lot should receive 3 copies of your West-2: Copies B, C, and 2, detailing what you lot were paid and what was withheld:

• Re-create A is submitted to the Social Security Administration by your employer.
• Attach Copy B to your federal income tax return if y'all're mailing information technology in. Keep it with your other tax documents for at least four years if y'all're e-filing your return.
• Keep Copy C with your tax documents for at to the lowest degree 4 years too. This is officially your copy.
• Adhere Copy ii to your state tax return if you're mailing it in. Otherwise, continue it with your tax documents for at to the lowest degree 4 years as you would with Copy B.

Where To Go Course Westward-ii

Employers must fix a Form Due west-two for each eligible employee and provide copies to the IRS and to the Social Security Administration. Employers must mail or hand-evangelize your Form W-2 to you no after than January. 31 for the previous tax year—for instance, January. 31, 2022 for 2021 earnings.

What To Do If You lot Don't Receive Class Westward-2

Ask your employer when Forms W-ii were mailed out to employees if you haven't received yours past mid-Feb. You lot tin can too enquire for another printed copy of your W-two, simply some employers may charge a nominal fee for providing you lot with an additional copy.

You might want to contact the IRS for assistance at 800-829-1040 if you lot call back it's possible that your employer did not send out Westward-2s or if your employer refuses to give one to you. Make sure you have certain information prepare to become, including:

• Your employer'southward proper name and complete address
• The employer's telephone number
• Your employer's identification number (EIN), if y'all know information technology
  

You should also be able to provide at least an estimate of the wages you lot earned, the federal income taxation that was withheld, and the dates that you began and ended employment if you're no longer working in that location. This information should be available on your paystubs.

The IRS might enquire you to file a Course 4852 with your revenue enhancement return if you're unable to become your Westward-2 from your employer. This form acts as a substitute for Form Due west-2.

You tin as well ask your employer to correct whatever wrong information on your Form W-2. For case, your Social Security number might be incorrect, your name might be misspelled, or your wages and withholding amounts might be inaccurate.

How To Read Your W-2 Form

Boxes A through F are all identifying information: your Social Security number; your employer's tax ID number, or EIN; everyone'southward addresses; and their full legal proper name. Box D is a control number that identifies your unique Grade W-two document in your employer's records.

The numbered boxes on Grade Due west-2 record your financial data.

• Box 1 reports your total taxable wages or salary. The number as well includes whatsoever tips you reported to your employer, bonuses, and other taxable compensation. Taxable fringe benefits such every bit group term life insurance are included here, but Box 1 does not include any pretax benefits such every bit savings contributions to a 401(k) plan, 403(b) plan, or health insurance. The number that appears in Box 1 is reported on Line ane of the 2021 Form 1040.
• Box 2 reports how much your employer withheld from your paychecks for federal income taxes. This number is reported on Line 25a of Class 1040.
• Box 3 reports the full amount of your wages that are subject to Social Security revenue enhancement. This tax is assessed on wages up to $142,800 every bit of tax year 2021. This "wage base of operations" is adjusted annually to adapt for inflation. Cheque with your employer if Box 3 shows an amount over the wage base. Tips that you've reported to your employer should not be included in Box 3. They're reported in Box 7.
• Box four reports the total corporeality of Social Security taxes withheld from your paychecks. The figure shown in Box 4 should exist no more than than $eight,853.lx because the Social Security revenue enhancement is a apartment tax rate of half dozen.2% on your wage income upwards to $142,800.
• Box v reports the corporeality of your wages that are field of study to the Medicare revenue enhancement. There'southward no maximum wage base for Medicare.
• Box 6 reports how much in taxes was withheld from your paycheck for the Medicare revenue enhancement, which is a flat charge per unit tax of 1.45% of your total Medicare wages every bit of the 2021 tax year. Yous might find that the corporeality in Box 6 is greater than Box 5 multiplied by 1.45% if y'all earn a significant income because the Boosted Medicare Tax adds an boosted 0.9%.
• Box seven shows whatsoever tip income you've reported to your employer. It will be empty if you didn't report any tips. Box vii and Box iii should add up to the amount that appears in Box 1 if you don't have whatsoever pretax benefits, or it might exist equal to the amount in Box 5 if you do receive pretax benefits. The total of Boxes vii and Box 3 should not exceed the Social Security wage base. The amount from Box vii is already included in Box i.
• Box 8 reports any tip income that was allocated to you by your employer. This amount is non included in the wages that are reported in Boxes 1, 3, five, or 7. Instead, yous must add your allocated tips to your taxable wages on Line 1 of your Course 1040, and yous must calculate your Social Security and Medicare taxes including this tip income using IRS Grade 4137.
• Box x reports whatever amounts you might have been reimbursed for dependent care expenses through a flexible spending account (FSA), or the dollar value of dependent care services provided to you by your employer. Reimbursements and services under $5,000 aren't taxable, merely whatever corporeality over $5,000 should exist reported as taxable wages in Boxes 1, 3, and 5. Dependent care benefits are reported on Course 2441.
• Box 11 reports any payments that were distributed to you from your employer's not-qualified deferred compensation plan or a non-government Section 457 alimony plan. The amount in Box eleven is already included every bit taxable wages in Box one.
• Box 12 applies to deferred bounty and other compensation. Several types of compensation and benefits can be reported in Box 12, so the IRS has simplified this every bit much as possible past allowing your employer to enter a single letter of the alphabet or double letter code followed by the dollar amount of your compensation. Ask your employer to determine what the lawmaking ways.
• Iii cheque boxes appear in Box 13. The kickoff will exist marked off if you lot're a statutory employee. This ways that yous would report the wages from this Westward-two—and any other W-2 forms you receive that are marked "statutory employee"—on Schedule C of Form 1040. Your wages aren't subject to income tax withholding, so y'all should come across a zero in Box 2, or it should be blank. Earnings are field of study to Social Security and Medicare tax, notwithstanding, so Boxes 3 through 6 should be filled out. These boxes volition as well be checked if y'all participated in your employer's retirement plan during the tax year. Finally, these boxes will be checked if you received third-party ill pay nether your employer's third-political party insurance policy. Ill pay isn't included in your Box 1 wages, although it is commonly subject area to Social Security and Medicare taxes.
• Your employer might report additional taxation data in Box 14. Any amounts reported in Box xiv should include a cursory description of what they're for. Union ante, employer-paid tuition assistance, or after-tax contributions to a retirement plan tin exist reported here.
• Box 15 reports your employer'southward country and country revenue enhancement identification number.
• Box 16 reports the full taxable wages y'all earned in that state. In that location might be multiple lines of information here if you worked for the same employer in multiple states.
• Box 17 reports the total corporeality of state income taxes withheld from your paychecks for the wages reported in Box 16. These taxes might be deductible as function of the deduction for state and local income taxes on Schedule A of the federal Form 1040 if you catalog your deductions.
• Box xviii reports wages that are subject to local, metropolis, or other country income taxes.
• Box 19 reports the full taxes withheld from your paychecks for local, city, or other land income taxes. This amount might also be deductible as part of the deduction for state and local income taxes if you itemize your deductions on Schedule A.
• Box 20 provides a brief description of the local, city, or other state tax being paid. The clarification might identify a particular urban center or it might identify a state tax such as state disability insurance (SDI) payments.

How To File Your Form W-ii

Enter the amounts in each box on the advisable line of your tax render. Add the boxes together if you're married and filing a articulation return and both yous and your spouse have W-2s.

Primal Takeaways

• Course Due west-2 reports earnings from employment and taxes withheld from those earnings to both an employee and the IRS.
• Employees use this information to set up their annual tax returns.
• Employers generally have until January. 31 to send employees W-2 forms for the previous tax year.
• You tin contact the IRS at 800-829-1040 if an employer won't or doesn't give you a Class W-2 by mid-February of the new year's day.
  

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Source: https://www.thebalance.com/understanding-form-w-2-wage-and-tax-statement-3193059

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