Does it matter if my Roth 401k contributions aren't showing up on my W-2?

This is actually normal and nothing to worry about. Roth 401k contributions don't show up on your W-2 in box 12a because they're made with after-tax dollars. Traditional 401k contributions (pre-tax) will show in box 12a with code D, but Roth contributions are handled differently. Your Roth 401k contributions should be included in your W-2 Box 1 wages (which means you're properly paying taxes on them now), but they won't be listed separately with their own code like pre-tax contributions are. You can double-check that your contributions were made correctly by looking at your last pay stub of the year - it should show your total Roth 401k contributions for the year. Also, your 401k plan administrator should provide you with a year-end statement showing all your contributions.

I had exactly the same issue last year and discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) after spending hours stressing about my W-2 and Roth 401k contributions. Since I was contributing to both traditional and Roth accounts, I was totally confused why only some of my retirement contributions were showing on my W-2. I uploaded my pay stubs and W-2 to taxr.ai and it immediately flagged the difference and explained exactly what was happening, saving me from making a mistake on my return.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after trying it out. I uploaded my W-2 and pay stubs and it actually caught that my employer had incorrectly coded some of my retirement contributions. They had put some of my Roth 403b contributions under the wrong code in box 12. I wouldn't have noticed this on my own since the numbers still added up overall! Was able to get a corrected W-2 from HR before filing. Super helpful tool for these confusing retirement account questions.

If you're still having trouble getting a straight answer from your employer about your Roth 401k contributions, I'd recommend calling the IRS directly. After struggling with my own W-2 issues, I used https://claimyr.com to get through to an IRS agent without the usual 2+ hour wait. There's a quick video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they hold your place in line and call you when an agent is about to answer. The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed exactly how Roth 401k contributions should appear on W-2s and gave me the exact reference numbers to cite with my employer.

I need to apologize for my skepticism about Claimyr. I decided to try it after continuing to get nowhere with my employer about my misreported retirement contributions. Got a call back in about 45 minutes (way faster than the 2+ hours I spent on hold the week before) and spoke with an IRS agent who confirmed that Roth 401k contributions should NOT show in Box 12a but should be included in Box 1 wages. She even gave me the specific IRS notice number to reference when talking to my employer. Saved me so much time and frustration!

Check your last pay stub for the year - it should show your YTD Roth 401k contributions. Compare that to your W-2 Box 1 (taxable wages). If your Box 1 includes all your wages AFTER traditional 401k but WITH the Roth 401k amounts, then everything is correct. It's confusing but Roth 401k won't show separately on W-2 like traditional 401k does.

Is this different for a Roth IRA vs a Roth 401k? I contribute to a Roth IRA on my own, not through my employer, and don't see anything about it on my W-2 at all.

Just wanted to add that if you're still unsure, you can also check your 401k provider's website or app - they usually have a year-end summary that breaks down exactly how much you contributed to traditional vs Roth accounts. This can help you verify that your payroll deductions were actually going to the right type of account. Also, if you contributed to both traditional and Roth 401k accounts during the year, your total contributions across both accounts still can't exceed the annual limit ($22,500 for 2023, $23,000 for 2024). So even though they're reported differently on your W-2, the IRS still tracks your combined contributions to make sure you don't go over the limit.

Thanks for asking this question! I was literally panicking about the same thing when I got my W-2 last week. I've been contributing to a Roth 401k all year and couldn't figure out why there was no code in box 12a. After reading through all these responses, I feel so much better knowing this is completely normal. I just double-checked my last pay stub and can confirm that my YTD Roth 401k contributions are indeed included in my Box 1 wages on the W-2. It's counterintuitive at first because you expect to see retirement contributions listed separately, but it makes sense once you understand that Roth contributions are made with after-tax dollars. For anyone else who's confused about this - I also called my 401k provider (Fidelity) and they confirmed that everything looks correct on their end. They said this is one of the most common questions they get during tax season because people expect to see their Roth contributions explicitly listed somewhere on the W-2.

This is such a helpful thread! I was in the exact same situation and was getting really worried that my employer had made some kind of mistake with my Roth 401k contributions. One thing I'd add is that if you want to be extra sure everything is correct, you can also request a "Summary Plan Description" from your HR department. This document explains exactly how your company's 401k plan works and should clarify how Roth vs traditional contributions are handled on your paystubs and tax documents. I also learned that some payroll systems will show a breakdown on your final pay stub of the year with separate lines for "401k Roth" and "401k Traditional" contributions, which makes it easier to track. But even if your pay stubs don't break it down that clearly, as long as your total retirement contributions match what you intended to contribute, you should be good to go. The key thing to remember is that Roth 401k contributions are treated like regular income for tax purposes (since you pay taxes on them now), while traditional 401k contributions reduce your current taxable income (which is why they show up separately in box 12a).

I went through this exact same confusion last year! What really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet to track everything. I listed my gross pay, traditional 401k contributions, Roth 401k contributions, and other deductions, then calculated what my Box 1 wages should be. The formula is basically: Gross Pay - Traditional 401k - Other Pre-tax Deductions = Box 1 Wages (which includes your Roth 401k contributions since they're after-tax). Once I did this calculation and compared it to my actual W-2, everything made perfect sense. My Roth contributions were indeed "invisible" on the W-2 because they're already included in the taxable wages amount. It's definitely counterintuitive at first, but the math works out correctly. If your numbers don't match up when you do this calculation, then you might have a legitimate issue to discuss with your HR department. But in most cases, everything is probably correct even though it doesn't look like what you'd expect.