RSUs properly shown as income on W2, but tax withholdings missing - help needed!

This is a common issue with RSUs on W-2s. What's likely happening is that your company withheld the tax but reported it differently than your regular income withholdings. First, check if you received a supplemental tax statement from your employer about the RSU vesting. Companies often provide this separately from the W-2. Also look at your last paystub of the year - sometimes the total withholding shown there will match what was actually withheld including the RSU withholding, even if the W-2 doesn't reflect it properly. If you don't have any supplemental documentation, contact your company's payroll department immediately. They'll need to either issue a corrected W-2 that properly shows all withholdings, or provide documentation showing the additional withholding that you can use when filing.

After dealing with this exact issue last year, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which saved me so much headache. My company messed up my RSU reporting on my W-2, and I was getting conflicting advice from colleagues about how to handle it. I uploaded my documents to taxr.ai and their system immediately identified the discrepancy between my reported income and withholdings. They explained that this is a common issue with equity compensation and provided a step-by-step guide for reporting it correctly in TurboTax. The best part was being able to chat with their tax experts who understood the nuances of RSU taxation specifically.

Wanted to follow up here - I actually tried taxr.ai after my skeptical comment and I'm honestly surprised. They instantly identified that my company was reporting the RSU withholdings as "supplemental wage withholding" which is why it wasn't showing up in the standard federal income tax withholding box on my W-2. Their system explained the exact section in TurboTax where I needed to manually enter this supplemental withholding. After making those changes, my calculated refund jumped by $4,800! Would have completely missed that money without their help.

If you're still having trouble after trying the suggestions above, you should try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I had a similar RSU reporting issue and spent weeks trying to get through to the IRS for clarification. After dozens of failed attempts, I discovered Claimyr through their demo video (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) and decided to give it a shot. Within 20 minutes of using their service, I was connected with an actual IRS agent who confirmed that I could file Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2) if my employer wouldn't correct the W-2. The agent walked me through exactly how to complete it to properly reflect my RSU withholdings. Saved me weeks of stress and probably prevented an incorrect filing.

Need to eat my words here. After my skeptical comment yesterday, I tried Claimyr this morning out of desperation. I've been trying to reach the IRS for MONTHS about an issue with my amended return. Used their service and got a call back in 35 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. The agent confirmed my amended return was processed but had been flagged for review because of an RSU reporting issue similar to what the original poster described. She gave me a direct number to call back if I needed to follow up and told me exactly what documentation to submit to resolve the issue. I'm still shocked it actually worked. Worth every penny to finally get this resolved after months of frustration.

I went through this exact thing. Check your brokerage account where your RSUs are held. In my case (Fidelity), there was a tax document in their system that showed the withholding that wasn't on my W2. I printed that out and kept it with my tax records. For TurboTax, I manually entered an additional withholding amount in the "Other" section of federal withholdings. You'll need to search for this in TurboTax as it's not in the obvious places.

Has anyone tried just calling payroll to get a corrected W2? I'm surprised they'd make such a basic error on something as important as tax withholdings.

I had the exact same issue last year and it was incredibly stressful! Here's what ended up working for me: First, check your final paystub from 2024 - it should show your total federal withholding for the entire year, which would include both regular salary and RSU withholdings. If that total matches what you expect (regular withholding + $5.2k), then you know the money was actually withheld. In TurboTax, you can manually add the missing withholding. Look for "Federal Taxes" section, then "Other Tax Situations" or search for "additional withholding." There should be an option to enter withholding that's not shown on your W-2. Enter the $5.2k there and keep documentation of where this came from (screenshots from your stock plan account, final paystub, etc.). I also recommend calling your payroll department ASAP. Even if they can't issue a corrected W-2 before the filing deadline, they can provide written documentation confirming the withholding that you can attach to your return. This protects you if there are any questions later. Don't panic - this is more common than you'd think with RSU taxation, and as long as you have documentation that the taxes were actually withheld, you'll be fine!