Help! My W-2s have blank boxes 18-20 but I need them to file my municipality taxes. What should I do?

Those boxes on your W-2 are specifically for state and local taxes. Box 18 shows local wages, Box 19 shows local income tax withheld, and Box 20 shows the locality name. If they're blank, it typically means your employer didn't withhold any local taxes for those jobs. This usually happens when either your employer is located in a different municipality than where you live, or they simply didn't withhold local taxes (which isn't uncommon). You still need to report these wages to your municipality though, since you're responsible for paying taxes where you live regardless of what was withheld. For your municipality filing, you should use the same wage amount that's in Box 1 (federal wages) for the local wages section. Then enter zero for local tax withheld, since nothing was withheld. The locality name would be the municipality where your employer is located.

I had this exact same problem last year and was totally confused until I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai). It's this really helpful tool that analyzes your tax documents and tells you exactly what to do with missing information. I uploaded my W-2s with the blank local tax boxes, and it immediately explained that my employer wasn't withholding local taxes and showed me how to properly report this on my municipality filing. The tool actually compared my W-2s against local tax requirements and gave me step-by-step instructions for completing the missing fields based on my specific situation. It saved me hours of confusion and prevented me from making mistakes that could have triggered an audit.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai since I was initially skeptical. I decided to give it a try after continuing to be stuck with the same W-2 local tax box problem, and I'm actually really glad I did. The interface was super straightforward - I just uploaded my W-2s and selected my municipality. It immediately flagged the blank boxes 18-20 and explained that my employer hadn't withheld local taxes (which I didn't realize was even a thing). It showed me exactly what numbers to use from elsewhere on my W-2s to fill in the required fields on my local tax form. The whole process took like 10 minutes instead of the hours I spent getting nowhere on my own. My local return was accepted right away with no issues. Definitely worth checking out if you're stuck with this municipality tax problem!

If you're still struggling and need to talk to someone at your local tax office, use Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through quickly. I was trying to call my municipal tax office for DAYS about a similar W-2 issue last tax season, but kept getting stuck on hold forever or disconnected. Claimyr got me through to an actual human at the tax office in about 15 minutes when I had been trying for hours before. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. Basically, it navigates the phone system for you and calls you back when a real person is on the line. The tax representative was able to tell me exactly how to handle those blank boxes on my W-2 for my specific municipality, which solved my problem immediately. Saved me so much frustration!

I have to admit I was totally wrong about Claimyr. After continuing to struggle with getting answers about my blank W-2 boxes, I got desperate and decided to try it despite my skepticism. I'm kind of shocked at how well it worked. I had been trying to reach my local tax office for THREE days - getting disconnected, stuck on hold, or reaching voicemail every time. Used Claimyr and got a callback with an actual person on the line in about 25 minutes. The tax office explained that in my case, I needed to enter my Box 1 wages for Box 18, put zero for Box 19, and enter my municipality's name in Box 20. Can't believe I wasted so much time trying to do it myself. Just wanted to update since I was so negative before. It legitimately solved my problem.

Another option is to contact your HR department or whoever handles payroll at your company. I had this same issue and it turned out they were supposed to withhold local taxes but made a mistake. They ended up issuing corrected W-2s with the proper local tax info. Worth asking before you try to figure it out yourself!

Quick question - has anyone had this issue with TurboTax or other tax software? I'm trying to file both my federal and local returns through TurboTax but it keeps flagging the missing boxes and won't let me proceed.

Don't panic - this is actually more common than you think! The blank boxes 18-20 on your W-2s simply mean your employers didn't withhold local municipality taxes from your paychecks during the year. This doesn't mean you don't owe them - it just means you'll need to pay them now when you file. For your municipality filing, here's what you should do: - Use the wage amount from Box 1 (your federal wages) as your local taxable wages - Enter "0" for local tax withheld since nothing was taken out - For the locality name, use the municipality where you physically worked (or your employer's location) The reason your third W-2 has this information filled in is probably because that employer was located in your municipality and properly withheld local taxes throughout the year. You should also ask your employers (the ones with blank boxes) why they weren't withholding local taxes - they might need to correct this going forward so you don't face a big tax bill again next year. Some employers don't realize they need to withhold for the municipality where their employees live or work.