Form W-2
Form W-2
Wage and Tax Statement
Every line is explained below in plain English — click any line to see what it means, who needs to fill it in, and what people commonly overlook.
Wages & Compensation
- 1 Wages, Tips, Other Compensation Your total taxable compensation from this employer for the year. This includes wages, salaries, tips, bonuses, commissions, and taxable fringe benefits.
- 3 Social Security Wages The portion of your wages subject to Social Security tax.
- 5 Medicare Wages and Tips The total wages and tips subject to Medicare tax.
- 7 Social Security Tips The amount of tips you reported to your employer that are subject to Social Security tax.
- 8 Allocated Tips Tips your employer allocated to you because the total tips reported by all employees at your establishment fell below 8% of gross receipts.
Tax Withholding
- 2 Federal Income Tax Withheld The total amount of federal income tax your employer deducted from your paychecks throughout the year and sent to the IRS on your behalf.
- 4 Social Security Tax Withheld The amount of Social Security tax (FICA) your employer withheld from your paychecks during the year.
- 6 Medicare Tax Withheld The total Medicare tax your employer withheld from your paychecks during the year. The base rate is 1.45% of all your Medicare wages (Box 5).
Benefits & Other
- 10 Dependent Care Benefits The total amount of dependent care benefits your employer provided or that you set aside through a dependent care flexible spending account (DCFSA).
- 11 Nonqualified Plans Distributions you received from your employer's nonqualified deferred compensation plan, or the amount of deferred compensation that became taxable during...
- 12a Box 12 Codes Box 12 reports specific types of compensation or benefits using single-letter or double-letter codes. Each entry has a code and a dollar amount.
- 12b Box 12b Codes A continuation of Box 12a. If your employer needs to report more than one coded benefit, the second entry goes here.
- 12c Box 12c Codes A continuation of Boxes 12a and 12b. If your employer reports three coded benefits, the third entry appears here.
- 12d Box 12d Codes The fourth and final entry slot for coded benefits in Box 12. Same format and code set as 12a through 12c.
- 13 Statutory Employee, Retirement Plan, Third-Party Sick Pay Three checkboxes that flag specific employment situations.
- 14 Other Information A catch-all box where your employer reports additional tax-related information that does not have a dedicated box elsewhere on the W-2.