How to Read Your W-2 Form

A W-2 form is a piece of paper (or digital copy) that your employer gives you every year. It shows how much money you made and how much tax they took out of your pay for the entire year (Jan 1 - Dec 31).

Your W-2 form has important details, like:

  • How much you earned in the previous calendar year.

  • How much tax was withheld from your pay.

  • Any retirement or benefit contributions.

  • Special stuff, like dependent care benefits.

Below is a breakdown of each box of the W-2 form and the information it has:

Box

   Description
Box A   Your social security number
Box B   Your employer's identification number (EIN)
Box C   Your employer's name, address, and zip code
Box D   Control number (an optional code that your employer can add to this section to identify your individual form. It's normal for this to be left blank.)
Box E   Your legal name
Box F   Your address and zip code
Box 1   Your total taxable wages, including any other taxable compensation paid to you during the last calendar year by your employer. This box will not include any deductions you had taken pretax, such as for certain retirement plan benefits.
Box 2   The amount of federal income tax your employer withheld from your wages over the last calendar year.
Box 3   The amount of your pay that was subject to Social Security tax in the last calendar year.
Box 4   The amount of Social Security tax your employer withheld from your wages in the past calendar year.
Box 5   The total amount of your pay that was subject to Medicare tax in the last calendar year.
Box 6   The amount of Medicare tax your employer withheld from your wages in the past calendar year.
Boxes 7-8   These sections are for jobs where employees earn and report tips (like restaurant or salon work). Since caregivers don’t receive tips through their employer, these boxes will be blank.
Box 9   An optional verification code if your employer is participating in an IRS pilot program
Box 10   The amount of dependent care benefits if applicable. This includes any pretax dollars allotted by you or your employer, to a flexible spending account for dependent care.
Box 11   Shows any money your employer paid you from a special type of retirement or bonus plan called a nonqualified deferred compensation plan. Most caregivers won’t have this type of plan, so this box is usually blank.
Box 12  

This box shows special codes your employer uses to report certain types of wages or benefits to the IRS. Most caregivers won’t see any codes here, since benefits like retirement plans, stock options, or employer-paid life insurance aren’t common in this field.

If your employer does offer benefits such as a 401(k), Roth 401(k), health savings account (HSA), or health insurance, you may see codes like D, W, AA, or DD listed. These simply show the amounts reported to the IRS and are for your information.

For a full definitive list of Box 12 codes, click here.
Box 13  

You may see a checkbox ticked for each of the following:

  • Statutory employee status: Your earnings are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes, but not subject to federal income tax withholding.

  • Retirement plan: You were an active participant in a retirement plan such as a 401(k) in the past tax year.

  • Third-party sick pay: You received sick pay under a third-party insurance provider.
Box 14   Your employer uses this section to report anything that doesn't fit in other box criteria, such as nontaxable income, union dues, uniform payments, and health insurance premiums.
Boxes 15-20   The amount of state & local income tax reported by your employer in the past calendar year.