Social security boxes 3 and 5 empty on W2 form - should I be concerned?

This isn't necessarily wrong, but it does need some looking into. Empty boxes 3 and 5 on your W2 typically means one of a few things: First, you might work for a state or local government employer that has their own pension system and doesn't participate in Social Security. Many teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public employees are exempt from Social Security taxes if they're covered by a qualifying public retirement system. Second, you could be a student working at your college/university. There's an exemption for students employed by their school where they don't pay FICA taxes on those wages. Third, you might be a non-resident alien on certain visa types that are exempt from these taxes. If none of these apply to you, then yes, you should definitely contact your employer's payroll department as this could be an error on your W2. Employers are required to withhold and pay these taxes for most employees.

I had a similar issue last year and found this incredible tool called https://taxr.ai that helped me figure out exactly what was going on with my W2. You upload your tax documents and it uses AI to analyze them and explain any irregularities. In my case, it identified that I was working for a state agency that had a separate retirement system, which explained why my social security boxes were empty. The tool also provides guidance on what steps to take if there actually is an error. I found it super helpful since I was confused about whether I needed to ask for a corrected W2 or if my form was actually correct.

I want to follow up on my experience with https://taxr.ai after asking about it. I uploaded both my confusing W2 with the empty social security boxes AND my 1099s. The system immediately identified that I was working as a student employee at my university, which is why boxes 3 and 5 were empty - turns out this is completely normal in my situation! It also caught a potential issue with one of my 1099-NEC forms where the amount seemed inconsistent with the work I did. I contacted the issuer and they confirmed it was a mistake. Already got a corrected form and it saved me from a potential audit trigger. Super impressed with how thorough and user-friendly it was.

After spending HOURS trying to get through to the IRS about this exact issue (empty boxes 3 and 5), I finally discovered https://claimyr.com and it changed everything. They got me connected to an actual IRS person in less than 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. The IRS agent confirmed that in my situation (I work for a local government with its own pension plan), it's completely normal for those boxes to be empty. You can see their demo video at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c to see how it works. Seriously, best money I ever spent trying to resolve a tax question.

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier and share what happened. After questioning whether Claimyr could actually work, I decided to try it myself since I had my own tax questions I'd been putting off. I was connected to an IRS representative in 15 minutes! For comparison, my previous attempt left me on hold for over an hour before I gave up. The IRS agent was able to confirm that my employer's pension plan was qualified, which explained why my W2 had empty social security boxes too. The service at https://claimyr.com did exactly what it promised. For anyone else struggling to get through to the IRS about W2 issues or tax questions, this is legitimately a huge time-saver.

Does anyone know what happens if your employer made a mistake and should have been withholding social security but didn't? My boxes 3 and 5 are empty too but I work for a regular private company, not government or education.

For anyone else with this issue - check your previous years' W2s if you've been with the same employer. If boxes 3 and 5 had amounts in previous years but are suddenly empty this year, that's a red flag that something changed or there's an error.

Just want to add another perspective here - I'm a CPA and see this situation fairly regularly. Before you panic, definitely check if you're in any of these categories that Mason mentioned. But also look at your pay stub from your last paycheck of the year. Sometimes there are timing differences where the final payroll processing might not have been completed when the W2 was generated. Also, if you're dealing with multiple employers during the year, sometimes one might be exempt while another isn't, which can create confusion when you're comparing different W2s. One more thing to check - if you had any pre-tax deductions like a 401k, health insurance, or flexible spending account, those reduce your social security wages but not necessarily your regular wages in box 1. So boxes 1 and 3 might legitimately be different amounts, but box 3 should never be completely empty unless you're in one of those exempt categories. If none of these situations apply to you, definitely get that corrected W2 before filing!