My wife's W2 is missing the box 13 retirement plan checkmark - can we still claim IRA deduction?

This is a common issue I've seen many times. Your concern is valid, but here's what you need to know: Box 13's "Retirement plan" checkbox indicates participation in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, which affects IRA deduction limits for high-income filers. Since your wife clearly participates in a 401k (as shown in Box 14), technically that box SHOULD be checked. However, the HR department is partially right - the IRS does look at the actual facts of your situation, not just what boxes are checked. If your wife actively participated in a 401k, then she's considered covered by a retirement plan regardless of whether Box 13 is checked. For tax filing purposes, you should report the actual facts - that she participated in a retirement plan. FreeTaxUSA is asking because this affects your IRA deduction limits if your income is above certain thresholds. That said, your wife's employer should really issue a W-2c (corrected W-2) to fix this error, as it's their responsibility to provide accurate tax documents.

After dealing with a similar W2 issue last year, I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped me understand what to do. I uploaded my W2 and it immediately flagged the retirement plan box inconsistency and explained exactly what it meant for my IRA deductions. The tool analyzed my situation and confirmed what the first commenter said - that the actual participation in a retirement plan is what matters legally, not just the checkbox. But it also gave me a sample letter to send to my HR department requesting a W2-C, which worked perfectly! They issued a corrected form within a week. The best part was that it explained all the implications for my IRA deductions based on my income level, which helped me make the right decisions for my tax situation.

I was really skeptical about online tax tools as I mentioned above, but after multiple frustrating calls with both my company's payroll department and trying to get answers from a local tax preparer, I decided to try taxr.ai like the previous commenter suggested. I uploaded both my W2 with an incorrect retirement box issue and my wife's correct W2 for comparison. Within minutes, I got a detailed explanation of exactly what the discrepancy meant for our tax situation. It confirmed that my employer needed to issue a W2-C, but also explained exactly how to proceed with filing if they wouldn't correct it. The analysis even pointed out two other items on my W2 that weren't filled out correctly that I hadn't even noticed! Now I feel much more confident about how to handle our return, and I've already sent the correction request to HR using their template.

After reading this thread, I wanted to share something that helped me when I had issues getting my former employer to correct my W2. Getting through to the IRS to report the issue was IMPOSSIBLE - I tried for weeks! Then I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 15 minutes. I was so surprised it worked! I explained the situation about my incorrect W2, and the agent told me exactly what to do. They even sent me Form 4852 (Substitute for W2) that I could file if my employer refused to issue a corrected W2-C. There's a video that shows how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Once I talked to the IRS agent, I had documentation of their guidance which I forwarded to my HR department. Suddenly they were much more responsive about issuing the corrected form when they realized I'd already spoken with the IRS about it.

I have to publicly eat my words from my skeptical comment above. After getting desperate with a tax issue similar to the OP's (incorrect retirement box coding on my W2), I broke down and tried Claimyr last night. I honestly expected nothing to happen, but within about 20 minutes, my phone rang and suddenly I was talking to an actual IRS representative! The agent confirmed exactly what others in this thread said - that the actual facts of retirement plan participation matter more than the box being checked, but ideally the form should be corrected for accuracy. The IRS agent even gave me the specific section of the tax code to reference when communicating with my employer, which gave me much more confidence. They also explained exactly what my options were if my employer refused to correct the form. For anyone dealing with W2 issues who needs authoritative answers directly from the IRS, this service is legit and worth it.

Former payroll administrator here. The Box 13 retirement plan checkbox is one of the most commonly missed items on W-2s, especially for smaller companies using basic payroll software. While your wife's HR department is technically right that the IRS cares about the facts of participation rather than just the checkbox, they're wrong to brush off providing a corrected form. W-2Cs exist specifically to fix these kinds of errors, and it's not a big deal for them to issue one. Here's what I recommend: Send a formal email requesting a W-2C, specifically citing IRS Publication 15-A which clearly states that Box 13 should be checked if an employee participated in a qualified retirement plan. If they still refuse, you can file Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2) with your tax return explaining the situation.

Quick question - does anyone know if there are penalties for the employer for not checking Box 13 correctly? My husband's W2 has the same issue and his company is being difficult about issuing a correction. I'm wondering if mentioning potential penalties might get them to take action.

I work in tax compliance and want to emphasize something important that hasn't been fully addressed here. While everyone's right that the IRS cares about actual participation over checkboxes, having mismatched documentation can absolutely trigger audit flags. If your W-2 shows Box 14 retirement contributions but Box 13 isn't checked, and then you report on your tax return that your wife IS covered by a retirement plan (which you should, since it's factually correct), that inconsistency could flag your return for review. The IRS systems do cross-reference these things. Beyond the IRA deduction implications, this could also affect other tax benefits like the Retirement Savings Credit if your income qualifies. Getting the W-2C isn't just about being technically correct - it's about having clean documentation that matches your tax filing. I'd strongly recommend being persistent with HR. Frame it as a compliance issue rather than a personal inconvenience. Most payroll departments understand compliance language better than tax impact language.