The W-2 is the form that tells the IRS — and you — what you earned from a W-2 job last year and how much was already paid in tax on your behalf. It arrives in January, gets fed into your tax return, and then mostly disappears. Reading it once carefully, the first time, makes every subsequent year easier.
What a W-2 is
A W-2 (officially “Wage and Tax Statement”) is an information return your employer sends to three places: you, the Social Security Administration, and your state tax agency. It summarizes the entire calendar year of wages and withholding for one employer-employee relationship. If you held two jobs in a year, you get two W-2s.
The data on the W-2 is the same data you’ve been seeing on your paycheck stubs all year — just totaled up and formatted for the IRS. If your final stub’s YTD column matches your W-2, the form is internally consistent.
When you get it
Federal law requires employers to mail (or post electronically) every W-2 by January 31 for the previous tax year. If you haven’t received one by mid-February, follow up with your employer’s payroll or HR department. If they can’t produce it by the end of February, you can call the IRS at 800-829-1040 and they’ll help.
Box by box
The boxes are numbered, but they’re not in tax-return order. Reading them in usefulness order:
| Box | What it is |
|---|---|
| 1 — Wages, tips, other compensation | Federal-taxable wages. This is the number that flows to Line 1 of your 1040. It excludes pre-tax 401(k), HSA, and most pre-tax health-insurance contributions. |
| 2 — Federal income tax withheld | Total federal income tax already sent to the IRS on your behalf. Reduces what you owe at filing — and if it’s more than your tax, the difference is your refund. |
| 3 — Social Security wages | Wages subject to Social Security tax — capped at the year’s wage base ($184,500 for 2026, announced by SSA on October 24, 2025). Differs from Box 1 if you contributed to a traditional 401(k) (which excludes from Box 1 but not Box 3). |
| 4 — Social Security tax withheld | Should equal exactly 6.2% of Box 3, up to the wage-base cap. If it doesn’t, ask payroll. |
| 5 — Medicare wages | Wages subject to Medicare tax. No cap. Usually equal to Box 3 unless you exceeded the SS wage base. |
| 6 — Medicare tax withheld | Should equal 1.45% of Box 5, plus 0.9% on any wages above $200,000 (additional Medicare tax for high earners). |
| 12 — Coded entries | A grab-bag with letter codes. Common ones: D (traditional 401(k)), DD (employer health insurance — informational, not a deduction), W (HSA contributions), AA (Roth 401(k)), C (group-term life insurance over $50,000). |
| 14 — Other | Anything your employer wants you to know that doesn’t fit elsewhere — union dues, after-tax disability premiums, certain state-specific deductions. Your tax software will flag if any of it matters. |
| 15–20 — State / local | State wages, state tax withheld, and (if applicable) local wages and tax. Mirror Boxes 1 and 2 but for state and local returns. |
If it’s wrong, late, or missing
If the numbers don’t match your final pay stub’s YTD column, contact payroll first — most discrepancies are clerical and they’ll issue a corrected form (a W-2c). Don’t file your return with a W-2 you know is wrong; the IRS will eventually catch the mismatch and question your return.
If the form never arrives, you can still file. The IRS provides Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2) for filers in this situation; you reconstruct the numbers from your final pay stub. Filing this way takes longer to process, but it’s an option when an employer is unresponsive.
For the calculation that turns Box 1 (wages) and Box 2 (withholding) into a refund or balance due, our explainer on how taxes actually work walks through the full stack.
Sources & further reading
- 01About Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Internal Revenue Service · 2024
- 02General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3. Internal Revenue Service · 2024
- 03Employer W-2 Filing Instructions & Information. Social Security Administration · 2024