Form W-2 Boxes: What They Mean and How to Check Your Pay Stubs

Your Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, shows what your employer paid you during the year and what was taken out for taxes. Your employer also sends a copy to the Social Security Administration. The boxes can look confusing at first. This guide explains the main ones and shows a simple way to compare the form with your pay stubs. IRS: About Form W-2

Boxes 1 and 2: income and income tax

• Box 1, wages, tips, other compensation. This is your taxable pay for the year. It usually goes on the wages line of your return. Elective deferrals, such as 401(k) contributions, are not in box 1. IRS: General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3
• Box 2, federal income tax withheld. This is the total federal income tax your employer kept from your pay during the year. It goes on the federal withholding line of your return.

Boxes 3 to 6: social security and Medicare

These boxes track the two payroll taxes that fund social security and Medicare. They can differ from box 1, and that is normal.

• Box 3, social security wages. Wages subject to social security tax, before payroll deductions. For 2026 the social security wage base is $184,500. Pay above that amount does not count for social security tax, so box 3 stops at that limit.
• Box 4, social security tax withheld. The employee share of social security tax taken from your pay. For 2026 this box should not show more than $11,439, which is $184,500 times 6.2%. IRS: 2026 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3
• Box 5, Medicare wages and tips. The same kind of pay as box 3, but Medicare has no wage base limit. Higher earners often see box 5 larger than box 3.
• Box 6, Medicare tax withheld. This includes the 1.45% Medicare tax. It also includes the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on Medicare wages above $200,000. IRS: Form W-2 (Copy C instructions)

Box 12: letter codes

Box 12 has a letter code and an amount. The code tells you what the amount means. Some codes are for information only. Others affect your return. Common examples include:

• Code D: elective deferrals to a 401(k) plan.
• Code W: employer contributions to a health savings account. These are reported on Form 8889.
• Code AA: designated Roth contributions to a 401(k) plan.
• Code DD: cost of employer-sponsored health coverage. This is for your information and is not taxable.
• Code TP (new for 2026 forms): total cash tips reported to the employer, used for the qualified tips deduction.
• Code TT (new for 2026 forms): total qualified overtime compensation, used for the overtime deduction.

Paper and online forms can show up to four codes. If you see a code you do not know, look it up in the IRS instructions before you file. IRS: Topic 424, 401(k) plans

Box 13: three checkboxes

• Statutory employee. Checked for certain workers who owe social security and Medicare tax but have no federal income tax withheld. Most employees will not have this box checked.
• Retirement plan. Checked if you were an active participant in a workplace plan, such as a 401(k), at any time during the year. This can limit how much you may deduct for a traditional IRA.
• Third-party sick pay. Checked only by a third-party sick pay payer, such as an insurer, or by an employer reporting sick pay that a third party paid.

Box 14: other information

Box 14 is for information your employer chooses to share. Examples include state disability insurance tax, union dues, uniform payments, and health insurance premiums deducted from pay. On 2026 forms, box 14 is split. Box 14a is for other information, and box 14b holds a Treasury Tipped Occupation Code when cash tips are reported in box 12 with code TP. If you do not know what a label means, ask your employer.

Check your W-2 against your pay stubs

A pay stub shows pay for each period and a year-to-date total. Use your last stub of the year. Its year-to-date totals should be close to the W-2 numbers.

• Gross pay and box 1. Box 1 is usually lower than gross pay if you had pre-tax deductions, such as 401(k) deferrals. Boxes 3 and 5 usually include those deferrals. IRS: Topic 424
• Federal withholding and box 2. The year-to-date federal income tax on your stub should match box 2.
• Social security and Medicare. The year-to-date social security tax on your stub should match box 4, and the Medicare tax should match box 6.
• 401(k) totals and box 12. The year-to-date 401(k) deferrals on your stub should line up with the code D amount in box 12.

If a number does not match, contact your employer's payroll or HR office first. They can issue a corrected form, called Form W-2c. Do not file a return with numbers you cannot explain.

Checklist

• Check that your name and Social Security number match your card.
• Compare box 1 with your gross pay and pre-tax deductions.
• Compare box 2 with the year-to-date federal withholding on your last stub.
• Compare boxes 4 and 6 with the social security and Medicare lines on your stub.
• Look up every box 12 code you do not recognize.
• Keep Copy C for at least 3 years after the due date of your return.

If you are changing how much tax is withheld from future pay, read What Is Form W-4 and the April Surprise.

General information, not advice for your return.

Sources: IRS: About Form W-2 (https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-2); IRS: General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw2w3); IRS: 2026 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3, PDF (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw2w3.pdf); IRS: Form W-2 PDF (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw2.pdf); IRS: Topic 424, 401(k) plans (https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc424) This is general information, not advice about your specific return.

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