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The Daily Insight

What is Box 20 on a W2?

Author

John Thompson

Published Feb 09, 2026

Box 20 is the name of the locality where you are paying the tax in box 19. If you have information in those boxes, you will need that income used in a return for that locality.

In which box on your W2 Can you find your wages?

Box 1
Box 1 — Shows your wages, tips, prizes, and other compensation for the year. You should include this amount on the wages line of your return. If you have more than one Form W-2, or you are married and your spouse also has one or more W-2s, the total of all forms’ Box 1 will be shown on Form 1040, line 1.

What is Box 3 on my W2?

Box 3: Social Security wages. Box 3 reports the total amount of wages subject to the Social Security tax. For 2010, the Social Security tax is assessed on wages of $106,800 or less. This limit is called the Social Security wage base.

Why is Box 1 more than box 3 on my w2?

Box 1 (Wages, Tips and Other Compensation) represents the amount of compensation taxable for federal income tax purposes while box 3 (Social Security Wages) represents the portion taxable for social security purposes and box 5 (Medicare Wages) represents the portion taxable for Medicare tax purposes.

Is Box 3 on w2 gross income?

The “YTD Gross” is the sum of the Year to Date (YTD) amounts under Hours and Earnings. Box 2: Federal income tax withheld. This amount represents the total amount withheld from your paycheck for federal income taxes. Box 3: Social Security Wages.

Why is Box 3 higher than box 1 on my W-2?

What is the value of box 1 on W-2?

The value in Box 1 is lower than the values in Boxes 3, 5, 16, and 18. You can also see that there are W-2 Box 12 codes and values. And, there is a check mark in Box 13. This example Form W-2 shows that the employee contributed $1,000 to a pre-tax retirement plan, reducing their taxable wages by $1,000.

What are the taxable wages in box 1?

The employee’s taxable wages in Box 1 are $48,000. The employee’s taxable wages in Boxes 3 and 5 are $50,000. Retirement plan contributions might be subject to state income tax, depending on the state.

What is the W-2 box for statutory employee?

Box 13 — If the “Retirement plan” box is checked, special limits can apply to the amount of traditional IRA contributions you can deduct. If the “Statutory Employee” box is checked, Box 1 will be carried to Schedule C line 1. Box 14 — Employers can use this W-2 box to report information such as: Railroad employers use this W-2 box to report:

What are the 3 check boxes on the W-2?

There are three check boxes in Box 13. Boxes will be checked off if any of these situations apply to you as an employee. Statutory employee means that you must report the wages from this W-2 (and any other W2 forms marked “statutory employee”) on Form 1040 Schedule C.