Decoding Your W2 Forms with a Payroll Expert | Part 1: Boxes 1 through 9
Personal taxes are intimidating, which is why we’re doing our best to simplify the parts that matter most. It’s good to understand how your paychecks are reflected in your W2, so in this two-part series, we’re going to take an in-depth look at the information on W2 forms.
Personal taxes are intimidating. The rules are unnecessarily complex, difficult to understand, and many of them will change before you file your next round of taxes in 2019. However, one document that has stayed fairly consistent, and will most likely continue to do so, is form W2. This form is required by your employers to document your annual wages and taxes from your paychecks. It’s good to understand how your paychecks are reflected in your W2 forms, so in this two-part series, we’re going to take an in-depth look at the information on W2 forms.
The first place to start when you receive your W2 is with your personal information. It’s important to make sure that your name and social security number (box a) on the form is correct. Next up…
W2 Forms: Box 1 and Box 2
Box 1 shows your Federal Income Tax Wages for the year, and Box 2 shows the amount withheld from those wages for the year. Based on IRS guidelines, this will include all paycheck dates from January 1st through December 31st of the W2 year. The pay period of the check is unimportant; what matters for W2 forms purposes is the actual check date.
Federal Income Tax wages are determined with each paycheck and are calculated as follows:
Start with gross Pay (Including tips and taxable fringe benefits)
Subtract: Section 125 deductions (medical, dental, vision, dependent care, pre-tax commuter benefits, etc.)
Subtract: deferred income (401k, SIMPLE IRA, 403b, etc.)
Equals: Federal Income Tax wages
Should all Deductions Reduce Taxable Income?
Only those deductions specified by the IRS have an impact on taxes. Items such as 401k loan repayments, garnishments, company loan repayments, and union dues won’t reduce your taxable wages.
The IRS Publication 15-B – Fringe Benefits document includes a detailed chart of how specific fringe benefits are treated for tax purposes:
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Example: Bob is paid semi-monthly. On this paycheck, he earned $8,000 in salary. Bob gets a semi-monthly auto allowance of $1,000. He has a medical deduction of $1,500, and he contributes 10% of his income to his 401k. What’s Bob’s taxable income for federal withholding?
*401k is calculated based on the definition of the specific 401k plan. Most plans do not include taxable fringe benefits in the calculation. |
W2 Forms: Boxes 3, 4, 5, and 6
Box 3 on the W2 forms represents Social security wages and Box 4 are the social security taxes on those wages. Similarly, Box 5 represents Medicare wages, and Box 6 are the taxes on those Medicare wages.
Social Security and Medicare taxes go hand in hand because the taxable wages for these two taxes are generally the same. The taxable wages for Social Security and Medicare taxes are defined below:
Gross Pay (Including tips and taxable fringe benefits)
Subtract: Section 125 deductions (medical, dental, vision, dependent care, pre-tax commuter benefits, etc.)
Equals: Social Security and Medicare taxable wages
For Social Security and Medicare, deferred income (401k, 403b, Simple IRA’s, etc.) is considered taxable and not subtracted from gross pay.
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Example: Bob is paid semi-monthly. On this paycheck, he earned $8,000 in salary. Bob gets a semi-monthly auto allowance of $1,000. He has a medical deduction of $1,500, and he contributes 10% of his income to his 401k. What is Bob’s taxable income for Social Security and Medicare?
*401k does not reduce gross pay for calculating Social Security and Medicare taxes. |
Taxes on Social Security and Medicare Wages
Social Security has a tax rate of 6.2% and Medicare has a tax rate of 1.45%. In the example above, Bob’s Social Security taxes would be calculated as follows, and added to Box 4:
Bob’s Medicare taxes would be calculated as below and added to Box 6:
Social Security Tax Limit
Social Security has an annual limit. In 2017, individuals were taxed only on the first $127,200 of taxable wages, or $7,886.40. In 2018, the wage limit is $128,400. Once you hit the tax limit of $7,960.80, you will no longer be taxed for Social Security in 2018.
Additional Medicare
There are no tax limits for Medicare, and employers are required to withhold Additional Medicare tax of 0.9% once taxable wages are over $200,000 for the year. In the example above, if Bob’s year-to-date taxable wages were $200,000 before payment, his additional Medicare taxes would be calculated as:
The $67.50 amount is added to the Medicare tax withheld in Box 6.
W2 Forms: Boxes 7, 8, and 9
Box 7 applies to employees who receive tips; it’s used to record any reported tips that had unpaid social security taxes.
Box 8 shows allocated tips from large food or beverage establishments. If applicable, the tips are based on allocated tips for an individual derived by Form 8027.
Box 9 is for employers that participate in the IRS’s piloted W2 Verification Initiative. If your employer does not participate, it will be blank. If your employer does participate, it is recommended that taxpayers and tax professionals enter the verification code in Box 9 when prompted by software. Doing so can speed the processing of the return and the issuance of refunds. If one uses an incorrect verification code or leaves it blank, it will not result in a delay in processing the tax return.
So– we survived the first 9 boxes of the W2 forms. Not so bad, right? In my next post, we’ll tackle boxes 11 through 20, and by the end, you’ll be a W2 wiz.
Did you find this helpful? Check out more from Matt, our payroll and accounting expert, here: How Does the New Tax Overhaul Impact Payroll?
