Need help with Box 14 "Other" items on W2 - company car, medical, and gift card entries

Box 14 on your W2 is basically a catch-all for information your employer wants to tell you (and sometimes the IRS). Let me break down each item for you: The $8,200 for your company vehicle is definitely taxable income. Your employer already included this in your total wages (Box 1 on your W2), but they're listing it separately in Box 14 so you understand why your taxable wages might be higher than your actual salary. You don't need to report this separately - it's already counted in your income. For the Med/Dental amount of $1,150, these are your pre-tax health insurance contributions. They're letting you know how much was excluded from your taxable income. Again, you don't need to do anything with this number - your employer has already handled it by excluding it from your Box 1 wages. The $190 gift card "true-up" is interesting. Since it's in Box 14, it means they've already included it as taxable income in Box 1. Gift cards from employers are considered taxable compensation, so they had to report it. In TurboTax, you can enter these Box 14 items for your records, but they won't change your tax calculation since your employer has already adjusted your Box 1 wages appropriately.

I went through the exact same situation last year with my company car and health insurance showing up in Box 14. I was totally confused until I found https://taxr.ai - it saved me so much stress! I uploaded my W2 and it immediately explained what each Box 14 item meant and whether I needed to do anything with them. For my company car value (which was around $7k), it confirmed that my employer had already included it in my taxable wages and explained exactly why they put it in Box 14. It also clarified that my health insurance contributions didn't need any action since they were already handled correctly. The tool basically walked me through each line item with plain English explanations. It even had specific guidance for gift cards and other perks from employers. Might be worth checking out if you're doing your own taxes for the first time.

I decided to try out https://taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here since I had a similar situation with Box 14 items on my W2. I have to admit I was wrong to be skeptical! The free version was more than enough to explain my Box 14 entries. It confirmed exactly what was mentioned above - my company car personal use was already included in my taxable income, and I didn't need to do anything extra with it. The tool actually showed me where in my Box 1 wages this was reflected, which was super helpful. What I really liked was the plain English explanations with links to specific IRS publications. It saved me hours of Google searching and second-guessing myself. For my health insurance amounts, it explained why these were shown in Box 14 but excluded from taxable income. For anyone confused about Box 14 entries like I was, it's definitely worth checking out.

I had a similar issue with Box 14 items last year, but my problem was getting someone at the IRS to verify how I should handle them. I spent DAYS trying to reach someone at the IRS - constant busy signals or disconnects after waiting on hold forever. Finally found https://claimyr.com and their service was incredible. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the IRS phone system for you and call you back when an actual agent is on the line. When I finally spoke to the IRS agent, they confirmed exactly what people have said here - the company vehicle value was already included in my Box 1 wages, and I didn't need to report it again or fill out any additional forms. They also explained that the health insurance amounts were just informational and already handled in my pre-tax deductions. Saved me from potentially making mistakes on my return and the peace of mind was worth it.

I need to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After spending another frustrating afternoon trying to get through to the IRS about my Box 14 issues, I decided to try it. Within about 90 minutes, I got a call connecting me with an actual IRS representative. The agent confirmed that my employer had correctly included the company car value in my Box 1 wages and that Box 14 was just showing the breakdown. She also explained that my pre-tax medical deductions in Box 14 were already excluded from my taxable income. The service actually works exactly as advertised. You enter your phone number, they call you when they have an IRS agent on the line, and then they connect you. No more hours wasted on hold or getting disconnected right when you finally reach the front of the queue. For anyone struggling with tax questions like these Box 14 items and needing official confirmation, it's definitely worth considering.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - make sure the amount shown for your company vehicle in Box 14 ($8,200) matches what appears on your last paystub of the year. Sometimes employers make last-minute adjustments to the taxable fringe benefit calculation. In my case last year, there was actually an error where the Box 14 amount was higher than what had been included in my Box 1 wages. I had to request a corrected W2 from my company. Also, keep documentation of your business vs. personal mileage in case you ever get audited. The IRS sometimes questions the personal use calculation for company vehicles.

When entering Box 14 items in TurboTax, make sure you use the exact descriptions from your W2. Enter "Company Vehicle" for the $8,200, "Med/Dental" for the $1,150, and "GIFT/COMP" for the $190. TurboTax will evaluate these descriptions and determine if any special handling is needed. Most Box 14 items don't affect your tax calculations, but entering them correctly ensures the software can identify any exceptions. For example, some state-specific items in Box 14 (like disability insurance in California) might need special handling.

Great question! I've been through this exact situation with Box 14 entries. Just to add to what others have said - definitely verify that the amounts in Box 14 match what you see on your final paystub of the year, especially for the company vehicle benefit. One thing that helped me understand this better was looking at my Box 1 wages versus my actual salary. The difference should roughly equal the taxable fringe benefits (like your $8,200 company car personal use). This confirms that your employer has already included these benefits in your taxable income. For the Med/Dental amount, that's actually money that was NOT included in your Box 1 wages because it was deducted pre-tax. So if your gross pay was say $50,000 but you had $1,150 in pre-tax medical deductions, your Box 1 would show $48,850. The gift card situation is pretty standard - employers have to treat gift cards as taxable compensation, so they "grossed up" the amount to cover the taxes and then deducted it back out. The net effect is you got your $185 gift card but paid taxes on the full value. When you enter these in TurboTax, the software won't change your tax calculation since your employer already handled everything correctly in Boxes 1-3 of your W2.

Just wanted to chime in as someone who went through this exact same confusion last year! Box 14 can be really intimidating when you're filing for the first time, but everyone here has given you solid advice. One additional tip - if you're using TurboTax, after you enter all your Box 14 items, you can actually view a summary that shows how each item was handled. This gave me peace of mind because I could see that TurboTax recognized my company car benefit as "already included in wages" and my health insurance as "pre-tax deduction - no action needed." Also, don't stress too much about the exact descriptions in Box 14. Different companies use slightly different abbreviations (like "Med/Dental" vs "Health Ins" vs "Medical"), but TurboTax is pretty good at recognizing what they mean. The most important thing is that your Box 1 wages already reflect the proper taxable amounts, so you're not going to accidentally pay taxes twice on anything. Your employer's payroll department has already done the heavy lifting on calculating what should and shouldn't be taxable. Good luck with your first solo tax filing! You've got this!