What a W-2 reports
A W-2 covers your:
- Taxable wages and other compensation
- Federal and state withholding
- Social Security and Medicare wages
- Other payroll items like 401(k) or health savings account contributions
It’s a single-page form with numbered boxes summarizing your entire year of pay.
W-2 vs. 1099-NEC vs. W-4
| Form | Who sends it | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| W-2 | Employer | Reports wages and withholding for an employee |
| 1099-NEC | Business or other payer | Reports payments to an independent contractor |
| W-4 | Employee, to employer | Tells your employer how much to withhold |
If you’re not sure which one applies to a specific job, use the instructions for Form 1099-NEC for more information on how contractor income differs from employee wages.
Reading your W-2
- Boxes A through F cover your employee information as well as your employer’s information
- Boxes 1 through 6 cover federal income and taxes withheld
- Box 1 reports taxable wages
- Box 2 reports federal income tax withheld
- Box 3 reports Social Security wages, while Box 4 shows Social Security tax withheld
- Box 5 reports Medicare wages and tips, while Box 6 shows Medicare tax withheld
- Boxes 7 through 14 cover additional compensation, benefits, and other tax information.
- Box 7 reports reported tip earnings subject to Social Security taxes
- Box 8 reports allocated tips
- Box 9 is an exception; leave it blank
- Box 10 reports dependent care benefits
- Box 11 reports distributions from nonqualified plans
- Box 12 reports specific compensation and benefit amounts (for example, retirement plan contributions)
- Box 13 indicates whether you’re a statutory employee, participated in a retirement plan, or received third-party sick pay.
- Box 14 may report other tax information provided by your employer.
- Boxes 15 through 20 cover state and local taxes
- Box 15 identifies the state and your employer’s state ID number.
- Box 16 reports state taxable wages
- Box 17 reports state income tax withheld
- Box 18 reports local taxable wages
- Box 19 reports local income tax withheld
- Box 20 reports city/locality information
If you don’t receive a W-2
First, contact your employer (or former employer) and confirm they have your current address. If you still don’t have it by mid-February, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 with:
- Your name
- Social Security number
- Employer’s information
The IRS will follow up on your behalf. If the form still hasn’t arrived by the filing deadline, you can file using Form 4852 as a substitute, estimating your wages and withholding from your final pay stub.
If your W-2 has an error
Ask your employer for a corrected form. A misspelled name or wrong Social Security number is usually a quick fix, but if the wage or withholding amounts change and you’ve already filed, you may need to file an amended tax return.
Do you attach it to your return?
If you e-file, you don’t need to attach a paper copy of your W-2. Your W-2 information transmits electronically along with your return. If you file a paper return by mail, attach Copy B of each W-2 you received to the front of your return.
