Can I deduct employer pension and supplemental retirement contributions from my Union Benefits package on taxes?

These employer contributions to your pension and supplemental retirement funds are already tax-advantaged, but not in the way you're thinking. Since your employer is making these contributions directly (not taking them from your paycheck), they're not included in your taxable income to begin with. If you look at your W-2, box 1 (wages, tips, other compensation) doesn't include these amounts. This is actually better than a deduction! If they were deductions, they'd show up in your gross income first, then you'd deduct them. But since they never appear in your taxable income at all, you're already getting the tax benefit automatically without having to claim anything on your return. The good news is you don't need to do anything special on your tax return regarding these employer contributions - TurboTax doesn't have a place to enter them because they're already excluded from your taxable income.

I was in the exact same position last year with my union benefits and spent hours trying to figure out the tax implications. I finally found this amazing tool called taxr.ai that really helped me understand exactly how my employer contributions affected my taxes. I uploaded my W-2 and benefit statements to https://taxr.ai and it analyzed everything to show me what was already tax-advantaged and what additional steps I could take. The tool confirmed what the previous commenter said - employer contributions to your retirement plans aren't taxable to you now (they'll be taxed later when you withdraw in retirement). But it also identified some other union benefits I was missing out on for tax purposes. Definitely worth checking out if you want to make sure you're optimizing everything.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai since I mentioned I was skeptical earlier. I gave it a shot with my union paperwork (I'm with the UFCW) and wow, it actually did understand all our weird supplemental benefits. It analyzed my disability coverage and correctly identified which portions were paid with after-tax money vs pre-tax, which affects whether benefits would be taxable if I ever needed to claim them. The best part was it showed me that some of my union-provided legal services were actually tax deductible in certain situations - something I completely missed for years! Already adjusted my withholdings based on what I learned. Definitely worth checking out if you have complicated union benefits.

If you're having trouble understanding how your union retirement benefits work tax-wise, you're not alone. I spent 3 WEEKS trying to get someone at the IRS to explain exactly how my similar situation worked. Kept calling and getting disconnected or waiting for hours. Finally found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. They have this callback system that basically waits in the IRS phone queue for you, then calls when an agent is available. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed that employer contributions to qualified plans aren't deductible by me because they're already excluded from my taxable income, and explained exactly how to verify this on my W-2. Saved me from potentially making a mistake on my return.

Need to eat my words about that Claimyr service. After complaining here, I was desperate enough to try it because I had a similar union retirement contribution question that was causing issues with my state return. I was 100% convinced it wouldn't work, but I got a call back in about 35 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. They confirmed my employer's pension contributions aren't taxable income to me and explained exactly which box on my W-2 to check to verify this. Totally worth it for the peace of mind of getting an official answer straight from the IRS. My stubborn refusal to try new services almost cost me money on my taxes. Don't be like me!

I think everyone is missing an important distinction here. There's a difference between: 1) Employer contributions to a qualified retirement plan (not taxable to you now, taxed later when withdrawn) 2) Employee contributions to a retirement plan (might be pre-tax or post-tax depending on the plan) 3) Employee contributions that are "picked up" by the employer per IRS 414(h)(2) If your union negotiated for what's called "employer pick-up" contributions under 414(h)(2), these are technically your contributions that the employer is paying for you. These are excluded from your federal taxable income but may be treated differently by your state. You should check your collective bargaining agreement or ask your benefits office exactly how your contributions are classified.

Maybe a dumb question but has anyone actually tried claiming these employer contributions as deductions anyway? I mean, would the IRS even notice if I just put them on Schedule A? My accountant friend says the IRS matching systems wouldn't catch this.

I've been in a similar situation with my local electricians union. One thing that helped me understand this better was looking at my annual benefits statement from the union pension fund. It usually breaks down exactly what type of contributions are being made and their tax treatment. For the pension contributions specifically, if it's a traditional defined benefit pension plan (which most union pensions are), those employer contributions are indeed excluded from your current taxable income. You'll pay taxes on the pension payments when you retire and start receiving them. The supplemental retirement fund might be different depending on whether it's structured as a 401(k), 403(b), or some other type of plan. Some unions have supplemental plans where you can make additional voluntary contributions that would be deductible. I'd recommend calling your union benefits office directly - they should be able to give you a clear breakdown of exactly what each contribution is and how it's treated for tax purposes. They deal with these questions all the time and can usually explain it better than trying to figure it out from tax software.