The W2 Form

Your W2 form reports earned income.

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The W2 form

You should receive a W2 form from each employer you had during the year.

There are three parts:

Part A for your state tax return
Part B for your federal tax return, and
Part C for your own records.

The W2 form entries

Box a - the control number for your employer.
Box b - the employer's identification number (EIN).
Box c - the employer's name, address and ZIP code.
Box d - your social security number.
Box e - your name.
Box f - your home address and ZIP code.
Box 1 - the total of your taxable wages, tips, other compensation and taxable fringe benefits.
Box 2 - the total amount of federal income tax that was withheld from your salary. (
Box 3 - the total in wages that were subject to the social security tax.
Box 4 - the total amount of social security tax withheld from your salary.
Box 5 - the total of your wages and tips that are subject to Medicare tax.
Box 6 - the total you paid in Medicare tax already.
Box 7 - the total amount in tips you reported to your employer.
Box 8 - the total in allocated tips.
Box 9 - your Advance Earned Income payment.
Box 10 - the total in dependent care benefits.
Box 11 - a distribution made to you from a non-qualified deferred compensation plan or nongovernmental section 457 plan.
Box 12 - a monetary amount followed by a letter code. Here is list of all W2 form codes.
Box 13 - may have a box checked that indicates whether you are a statutory employee, a participant of your employer's retirement plan or received third party sick pay.
Box 14 - records any other information for the employee, such as union dues, health insurance premiums, and educational assistance payments.
Box 16 - your state wages, tips and compensation.
Box 17 - total state income tax you paid.
Box 18 - locality name.
Box 19 - your local wages, tips and compensation.
Box 20 - total local income tax you paid.


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Related IRS publications

Get more information about your W2 form from Publication 525. You can also see a sample W2 Form.

Note: you will need an Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these publications, which you can get here.