Help with multiple cities on my W-2 - FreeTaxUSA only lets me enter one locality?

I started a new job this year and my W-2 is super confusing. I work in one city but live in another, and they've got this weird setup on my form. Box 20 on the first page says "TOTAL CITY" as the locality name. Then it gets weirder - page 2 of my W-2 lists my work city in box 20 with the local income tax amount for that city. Page 3 shows my home city in box 20 with the local tax for that one. I'm trying to use FreeTaxUSA to file but it only gives me ONE field for locality name. What am I supposed to do with both city taxes? Do I combine them? Enter them separately somehow? I'm completely lost on how to handle this in the software when my W-2 has split the city taxes across different pages.

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20 comments

Fiona Sand

•8M

This is actually pretty common when you work and live in different cities that both have local income taxes. Your employer is showing the total local tax withheld, then breaking it down by each city on the additional pages. With FreeTaxUSA, you'll need to enter each locality separately. When you get to the W-2 section, after entering the main W-2 information with the "TOTAL CITY" and combined local tax amount, there should be an option to add "Additional State and Local Tax Information" or something similar. This lets you enter multiple localities for the same W-2. If you can't find that option, you might need to enter your W-2 information twice - once for each city. Just make sure that when you add up the local taxes from both entries, it matches your total withholding.

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Fiona Sand

•8M

You're right to be concerned about doubling your income - don't enter the entire W-2 twice. Instead, look for the "Add another local tax" button after you've entered the first W-2. It's sometimes hidden in the review section after you've completed the initial W-2 entry. If you still can't find it, you could enter the W-2 once with the city where you work (since that's typically where the higher tax rate is), and then use the "Other Income Tax Payments" section (usually found in the Deductions & Credits area) to report the tax withheld for your resident city.

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Mohammad Khaled

•8M

After struggling with a similar issue last year (working in Philadelphia but living in a small PA township), I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me tons of frustration. It actually scans your W-2 and identifies when you have multiple localities, then helps you enter everything correctly. I was about to switch from FreeTaxUSA because of this exact problem, but the taxr.ai tool guided me through how to handle it properly. It showed me exactly where in FreeTaxUSA to find the multiple locality option that's kind of hidden in the interface.

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Mohammad Khaled

•8M

It works with pretty much all tax forms - W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, and more. I've used it for my side gig 1099 forms too, and it was super helpful for sorting out deductions. It's actually really secure - they use bank-level encryption and don't store your actual tax documents after analysis. It just reads them, gives you the guidance, and then you can delete everything. I was paranoid about security too, but after researching their privacy policy I felt comfortable with it.

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Finnegan Gunn

•8M

I'm back to say I was totally wrong to be skeptical about taxr.ai! After having so much trouble with my W-2 (I work in two different cities plus live in a third), I decided to give it a try. It immediately identified all three localities on my W-2 and walked me through exactly how to handle it in FreeTaxUSA. The tool showed me where to find the "Add another local tax withholding" option that's hidden in the review section of FreeTaxUSA. I would have never found it without the guidance! It even flagged that I was eligible for a tax credit for the duplicate taxes I was paying to multiple cities that I had no idea about. Definitely saved me from making a costly mistake on my taxes this year!

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Miguel Harvey

•8M

If you're still having trouble getting answers from FreeTaxUSA's help section, I'd recommend trying to contact your city tax departments directly. I had a similar issue and spent weeks trying to get through to someone who could help. Finally found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me on the phone with the local tax office in minutes instead of waiting on hold forever. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Most city tax offices actually have specialists who deal with this exact situation all the time, they just make it near impossible to reach them by phone. The person I talked to explained exactly how to handle the multiple city taxes on my return.

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Miguel Harvey

•8M

It's actually pretty simple - they use an automated system that waits on hold for you, then calls you when a real person answers. You don't have to sit there listening to hold music for hours. When I used it for my city tax office, I got a call back in about 30 minutes when someone answered. No, it's definitely not a scam. They don't just give you a phone number - their system actually navigates the phone tree and waits on hold in your place. For government offices like tax departments that often have 2+ hour hold times, it's been a game changer. I was skeptical too until I tried it and got through to someone who actually helped resolve my issue with the multiple city taxes.

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Oliver Cheng

•8M

I need to publicly eat my words about Claimyr being a scam. After my last comment, I was still stuck trying to figure out my city tax situation with a multi-city W-2, so I reluctantly tried it. Not only did it work EXACTLY as promised, but I got through to my city tax office in 45 minutes after trying unsuccessfully for weeks on my own. The tax specialist I spoke with immediately knew how to handle my situation and explained that I needed to file separate local tax forms for each city. For FreeTaxUSA specifically, she told me that I should enter the highest tax rate city in the W-2 section, then use the local tax forms section (under "Other Forms") to handle the second city. Apparently this is a super common issue that they deal with all the time!

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Taylor To

•8M

You can usually find reciprocity information on either city's tax department website. Just search "[City Name] tax reciprocity" and you should find it. Typically larger cities will have information about which surrounding communities they have agreements with. The size difference between cities often does matter - usually the larger city (where you work) has more power in these situations. Some states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have complex systems of local tax credits rather than true reciprocity, so you might still owe some tax to both cities but get a credit in your resident city for what you paid to your work city.

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Kiara Fisherman

•2M

Great to see this got resolved! For anyone else dealing with similar multi-city tax situations, I'd also recommend double-checking your final tax calculations before submitting. Even when you enter multiple localities correctly in FreeTaxUSA, sometimes the software doesn't automatically apply available credits for taxes paid to multiple jurisdictions. I learned this the hard way last year - I was entitled to a credit for paying duplicate local taxes but had to manually add it in the "Other Credits" section. Your city tax departments (if you can reach them) or a local tax preparer can help verify if you qualify for any credits to avoid overpaying. The multiple locality feature in FreeTaxUSA works well once you find it, but it's definitely one of those hidden features that should be more prominent in the interface!

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