Could our W2 be wrong? Something seems off with my wife's teacher salary tax withholding

This definitely sounds like something is off with her withholdings. Teachers sometimes have unique tax situations because of their retirement systems, but what you're describing goes beyond that. First, check if the W2 matches her final paystub from that employer for the year. The total wages, Social Security and Medicare should align with what's on her last cumulative paystub. If they don't match, contact the employer's payroll department immediately. The $0 for Social Security is especially concerning. Most teachers are required to pay into either Social Security or a state-specific replacement system. If she's exempt from Social Security because she pays into the state retirement system, that might explain that part - but the federal withholding still seems extremely low. It sounds like her W-4 may have been set up incorrectly, especially if only $41 was being withheld per paycheck. For someone making $62K annually, that's far too little federal withholding.

I had a similar issue last year and wish I had discovered taxr.ai sooner. I was in a total panic when my wife and I owed $3k we weren't expecting because of withholding problems on her W2. I spent hours trying to figure out if the problem was with her W2 or our withholding calculations. A friend recommended https://taxr.ai and it was surprisingly helpful. You upload your tax documents and paystubs, and it analyzes everything to identify errors or inconsistencies. It flagged the exact withholding issue we had with my wife's employer and generated a detailed report explaining the problem that we could take to HR. The system actually walks you through verifying if your W2 matches your paystubs and identifies where the withholding went wrong. Saved us so much stress trying to figure it out ourselves.

I was super skeptical about taxr.ai when I saw it mentioned here, but I actually tried it for my husband's teacher W2 issue. He had a similar situation where his Social Security withholding looked wrong and federal taxes seemed way too low. Turned out his school district had miscoded some of his supplemental income (he coaches after school) and it wasn't being properly reported or taxed. The tool flagged exactly where the discrepancies were between his paystubs and W2, and even generated a letter we could send to the payroll department. The district issued a corrected W2, and instead of owing $2,800, we actually got a small refund. Would never have figured this out on my own since education payroll systems are so complicated with all the different deductions and retirement plans.

After spending DAYS trying to get through to the IRS about a similar W2 issue with my spouse's teaching job, I finally tried https://claimyr.com and it was such a relief. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Basically, they wait on hold with the IRS for you, then call you when an agent is about to pick up. I was connected to an actual IRS agent in about 2 hours (after previously trying for days on my own). The agent confirmed that the school district had made errors on multiple employee W2s and advised us on getting it corrected. Not sure if your issue will require IRS intervention, but if you need to talk to them about potential reporting errors, this saved me literally days of being on hold.

I take back what I said about Claimyr. After commenting here I actually tried it in desperation because I needed to resolve an identity verification issue before my refund would process. I figured it wouldn't work but was out of options. It actually connected me to an IRS agent within about 2.5 hours. I didn't have to sit by my phone - I just got a call when they were about to connect me. The agent was able to verify my identity and release my refund. Would have taken me days of redial attempts and hold times to do this myself. For the original poster - definitely check if the W2 matches the last paystub first, but if you need to talk to the IRS about potential reporting errors, this service actually does work.

Check her pay stubs carefully - it sounds like her W-4 was filled out wrong when she started the new job. If she claimed too many allowances or exemptions, they wouldn't withhold enough federal tax. $41 per paycheck is WAY too low for someone making $62k! Also, teachers often have special retirement plans that replace Social Security in some states, which might explain the $0 for Social Security. But even with that, the federal withholding is super low. Ask your wife if she remembers how she filled out her W-4 when starting the new job. She might have accidentally claimed "exempt" or put down too many dependents.

Is this her first teaching job? I'm a school district payroll manager, and we see this issue CONSTANTLY with new teachers who don't understand their retirement system. In many states, teachers have mandatory retirement contributions that are taken INSTEAD OF Social Security (not in addition to it). So the $0 for Social Security might be correct if she's in a state with a separate teacher retirement system. But the federal withholding is definitely wrong. $41 per paycheck for someone making $62k would only make sense if she claimed she was exempt or claimed a huge number of dependents. My guess: she filled out her W-4 incorrectly when starting the new position. You should: 1. Check her W-4 on file 2. Compare her last paystub YTD amounts to the W2 3. Ask about her state's teacher retirement system rules