Need help with W2 box 14 showing VIS/DEN categories - confused about how to file...

Box 14 on your W-2 is where employers can list additional information that doesn't fit elsewhere on the form. The VIS and DEN entries are almost certainly showing the premiums paid for your vision and dental insurance plans. If TurboTax is asking you to categorize them, you should select "Health Insurance Premiums" for both. These are typically pre-tax deductions that have already been excluded from your taxable wages in Box 1, so selecting the right category helps ensure they're handled correctly. Don't just select random options - while Box 14 items don't always impact your tax liability, categorizing them incorrectly could potentially cause issues if the IRS compares your return to information they have on file.

I was stuck on this same issue last year! After hours of frustration, I found this tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that literally saved me. I uploaded a picture of my W-2 and it instantly identified those Box 14 codes and told me exactly how to categorize them in TurboTax. It does a full analysis of all your tax documents and explains everything in plain English. Seriously, it was like having a tax pro looking over my shoulder but without paying those crazy fees. The system even flagged a deduction I was missing related to some work expenses.

Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai from the recommendation above. I was so skeptical but decided to give it a shot since I was stuck on a similar W-2 issue with codes my employer used. It's actually legit! Uploaded my documents and within minutes got a detailed breakdown of exactly what those cryptic codes meant and how to enter them. Even better, it found a mistake I made with some freelance income I reported that would have definitely caused issues. Definitely recommend for anyone struggling with document interpretation. Wish I'd known about this years ago!

If you're really stuck and need to talk to someone at the IRS directly about how to categorize these items, I'd recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS about a similar issue with some weird codes my employer used. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I had been trying for hours with no luck. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent was able to confirm exactly how to categorize my Box 14 items and explained that some of them actually qualified me for additional credits I didn't know about.

Well I need to eat some humble pie here. After my skeptical comment above, I decided to try Claimyr as a last resort because I was desperate to resolve an issue with my refund being held up. I'm genuinely shocked - it actually worked exactly as described. Got a call back in about 20 minutes and was connected to an IRS agent who helped resolve my issue. Would have taken me days of redial attempts otherwise. For anyone dealing with Box 14 codes like the original poster, the agent I spoke with confirmed that vision and dental should indeed be categorized as "Health Insurance Premiums" in most cases, but if you have any doubt, actually talking to the IRS directly is really helpful.

For what it's worth, most employers include VIS and DEN in box 14 to show your pre-tax contributions to vision and dental insurance. If you select "Health Insurance Premiums" in TurboTax, you'll be fine. I work in payroll and we put these codes on W-2s all the time. Box 14 is basically a miscellaneous box where employers can put additional information that doesn't fit elsewhere. The IRS doesn't actually require anything specific here.

TurboTax is super annoying with this! Last year they kept asking me to categorize stuff in box 14 that didn't matter at all. I called my HR department and they told me to just pick Health Insurance for the DEN and VIS codes.

As someone who's dealt with this exact same confusion, I can confirm that VIS and DEN codes in Box 14 should definitely be categorized as "Health Insurance Premiums" in TurboTax. These represent your pre-tax contributions for vision and dental coverage that your employer has already excluded from your taxable wages in Box 1. Don't stress too much about it - while it's important to categorize them correctly for record-keeping purposes, these particular entries won't change your refund amount since the tax benefit was already applied when your employer calculated your taxable wages. The key thing is just making sure TurboTax knows what these codes represent so everything matches up properly with IRS records. You're almost done - just select "Health Insurance Premiums" for both and you'll be good to submit!

Just wanted to chime in as another data point - I had this exact same issue with my W2 showing VIS and DEN codes in box 14. After reading through all the helpful responses here, I went ahead and categorized both as "Health Insurance Premiums" in TurboTax and everything went smoothly. My refund processed without any issues, and looking back at my paystubs, I could see that these amounts were indeed already deducted pre-tax throughout the year. So selecting "Health Insurance Premiums" was definitely the right choice. For anyone else stuck on this - don't overthink it like I did! The consensus here is solid: VIS = vision insurance premiums, DEN = dental insurance premiums, both should be categorized as "Health Insurance Premiums" in your tax software. You've got this!