My employer gave me 2 W-2's... why does the 2nd form only have a box 12A listed?

This actually happens more often than you'd think! When your employer gives you two W-2s with the same EIN, and one has only Box 12A filled in, they're likely reporting a retirement plan contribution or some other specific benefit separately. Box 12A could contain various codes - the letter after the 12A will tell you what it is (like D for 401k contributions, W for HSA contributions, etc). Look at the little letter code next to the amount. This second W-2 is probably reporting something that needed to be tracked separately from your regular wages for some reason. Yes, you definitely need to include BOTH W-2s when filing your taxes. Most tax software has an option for entering multiple W-2s from the same employer. The IRS will have received both forms, so your tax return needs to match what they have on file.

I had a similar issue last year and discovered a really helpful tool at https://taxr.ai that saved me hours of frustration. When I got multiple W-2s, I wasn't sure if I was entering everything correctly or if I was missing something. The taxr.ai tool basically analyzed both my W-2s, explained exactly what each box meant (especially those mysterious codes in Box 12), and confirmed I was handling everything correctly. It even highlighted that my second W-2 was for deferred compensation that needed special attention. The peace of mind was worth it since the IRS doesn't exactly send friendly reminders if you mess up!

Just wanted to follow up about the taxr.ai suggestion. I decided to try it with my complicated W-2 situation and it was incredibly helpful! The system identified that my second W-2 had a code D in box 12A which was for 401(k) contributions, and explained exactly how to enter everything in my tax software. It even caught that I was about to double-count some retirement contributions which would have messed up my return. The analysis was detailed but easy to understand, definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with multiple W-2s or any confusing tax forms.

If you need to talk to someone at the IRS about this issue (which might be a good idea to confirm everything is correct), I found a service called Claimyr that actually gets you through to an IRS agent quickly. I spent DAYS trying to get through the IRS phone system myself and kept hitting dead ends. With https://claimyr.com they somehow navigate the IRS phone tree for you and then call you once they have an actual human on the line. You can see a demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - it sounds too good to be true but it really worked for me when I had a similar W-2 question last year.

I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I was desperate enough to try it because I've been getting nowhere with the IRS about my own W-2 issue. I figured it was worth a shot since nothing else was working. To my complete shock, they actually got me through to an IRS representative in about 90 minutes! The agent confirmed that having two W-2s with one only showing Box 12A is completely normal - in my case it was reporting employer contributions to my HSA. The IRS rep was able to verify everything was reported correctly on their end. Definitely changed my perspective on dealing with the IRS. Never thought I'd say this, but I'll be using this service again next time I need to talk to someone there.

Just a quick thing to check - look at your last pay stub of the year and compare the totals with what's on your W-2s. Make sure everything adds up correctly when you combine both forms. I've seen cases where employers make mistakes and you'll want to catch that before filing.

For what it's worth, I had this exact situation last year and it turned out my company had switched payroll providers mid-year. That's why they issued two separate W-2s. One was from January-June with the old provider, and one was from July-December with the new one. Is it possible your company did something similar?