Form 1040

1a — W-2 Wages, Salaries, Tips Tax year 2024

What this line means

The total amount of wages, salaries, and tips reported to you on all your W-2 forms for the year. If you worked for more than one employer, add up Box 1 from every W-2 you received. This is your starting point for reporting earned income on your tax return.

Does this apply to you?

  • You worked a salaried or hourly job at any point during the year and received a W-2
  • You held multiple jobs during the year and received separate W-2s from each employer
  • You earned tips that your employer reported on your W-2
  • You received taxable fringe benefits (company car, gym membership) included in your W-2 wages
  • You were a statutory employee and received a W-2 with Box 13 checked

Easy to overlook

W-2s from short-term or early-year jobs If you worked somewhere for only a few weeks or left a job in January, that employer still issues a W-2. People who changed jobs multiple times during the year often forget to include W-2s from employers they barely remember. The IRS has every W-2 on file and will flag the mismatch. 1 [SOURCE: CP2000 pattern — unreported W-2 income from short-term jobs]

Taxable fringe benefits already included in Box 1 Your employer adds the value of certain benefits — like personal use of a company car or group-term life insurance over $50,000 — directly to your W-2 wages. Filers sometimes try to report these separately, double-counting the income. If it is in Box 1, it is already in your wages total. 2 [SOURCE: IRS Publication 525 — Taxable and Nontaxable Income]

Watch out for this

Entering the wrong box from your W-2. Line 1a uses Box 1 (Wages, tips, other compensation), not Box 3 (Social Security wages) or Box 5 (Medicare wages). These amounts differ because certain pre-tax deductions (like 401(k) contributions) reduce Box 1 but not Box 3 or 5. Using the wrong box inflates your reported income.

  • Line 1z — Form 1040 — Total of all wage sub-lines (1a through 1h) added together
  • Line 25a — Form 1040 — Federal income tax withheld from your W-2 (Box 2)
  • Schedule SE — Form 1040 — Self-employment tax; if you are an employee, your employer already handled FICA through your W-2

Footnotes

  1. IRS CP2000 Notice, W-2 Income Matching. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/understanding-your-cp2000-notice ↩

  2. IRS Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p525.pdf ↩

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