Received a letter from the IRS today about claimed excess Social Security taxes

This is actually a fairly common issue when you have multiple employers in a year. The IRS often does verification checks on excess Social Security tax claims. The letter probably requests documentation to verify your calculations. What you need to do is send them copies of both W-2s showing the Social Security tax withholding amounts. This will prove that you've actually had more than the maximum withheld across multiple employers. Your calculation looks correct based on the numbers you provided. The 2024 Social Security wage base limit was $168,600 with a maximum tax of $9,067.20 (at 6.2%). Since your total withholding exceeds that amount, you're entitled to claim the difference as a credit.

I had this exact same issue last year when I worked for three different companies. Spent hours trying to figure it out until I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai). It's this AI tool that analyzes tax documents and explains exactly what's happening in plain English. I uploaded the IRS letter and my W-2s, and it immediately identified that I was completely right about the excess SS tax calculation. It even drafted a response letter for me explaining the calculation that referenced the exact IRS publications. Sent that back with my W-2 copies and got my refund a month later. Way easier than trying to decipher IRS-speak on my own!

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai that I asked about before. I was really skeptical but decided to try it with my own IRS letter (got one about itemized deductions). The analysis was surprisingly detailed and showed me exactly what documentation I needed to provide. The letter template it created saved me so much time - referenced all the right tax codes and everything. The IRS accepted my explanation without any followup questions. Honestly couldn't believe how easy it made the whole process.

If you still can't get this resolved after sending documentation, try using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). After getting nowhere for weeks with a similar SS tax issue last year, I used them to get through to an actual IRS agent on the phone. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Basically they navigate the IRS phone system for you and call you back when they've gotten through to an agent. I was super frustrated after sending my documentation twice with no response. Got connected to an IRS agent within 2 hours and they resolved my issue while I was on the phone. Saved me months of back and forth letters.

I owe everyone an apology about my skepticism on Claimyr. Literally the day after I posted that comment calling BS, I got an IRS notice about an "error" on my return. After three days of trying to call myself and never getting through, I reluctantly tried the service. Got a call back in about 90 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. Turned out there was a simple data entry error on their end that they fixed while I was on the phone. The agent even commented that they're severely understaffed and the hold times are insane right now. So yeah...I was wrong. Sorry for being such a jerk about it.

For what it's worth, I had the exact same issue with excess SS tax last year. The letter is part of their automated verification process. When you have multiple employers in a year, the IRS system sometimes flags these returns for verification since each employer doesn't know how much the other withheld. Just send copies of both W-2s with a brief explanation showing your math. I did that and got my refund about 3 weeks later. No need to panic! This happens all the time with multiple W-2s.

Are you sure you calculated your excess SS tax correctly? The limit is only on the amount of wages subject to SS tax, not the actual tax amount itself. For 2024, the wage base limit was $168,600. If your combined wages from both jobs exceeded that amount, then you would be entitled to a refund of the excess SS tax. But if your total wages were under that limit, you wouldn't be entitled to any excess SS tax refund.

I went through this exact same situation two years ago with multiple employers. The IRS verification process for excess Social Security tax claims is pretty standard - they just want to make sure the math checks out. Your calculation looks spot on. The key thing to remember is that each employer withholds Social Security tax independently without knowing what other employers have withheld from you during the year. So even though your total wages might be well below the $168,600 limit, you can still end up with excess withholding. When you respond to their letter, make sure to include: 1. Copies of both W-2s (not originals) 2. A simple calculation showing the excess like you did here 3. Your SSN written on every page 4. A copy of their letter Send it certified mail so you have proof of delivery. In my experience, once they see the W-2s, they process the refund pretty quickly. This is definitely not audit territory - just routine verification. Don't stress about it!