W-2 Box 5 is completely blank - how should I report Medicare wages?
Title: W-2 Box 5 is completely blank - how should I report Medicare wages? 1 My employer just sent me my W-2 and I noticed something weird. Boxes 3 and 5 (for Social Security and Medicare taxable income) are completely blank. There's nothing in them at all. No income was withheld for these either according to the form. But from everything I've read online, boxes 3 and 5 should basically match what's in box 1 (which shows $58,750). I'm trying to finish my taxes this weekend and not sure how to handle this. Should I just put 0 for my Medicare wages on my return since that's technically what the W-2 shows? Or should I enter the full amount of my W-2 income from box 1? I'm worried about getting flagged for an audit if I do this wrong. My employer is a small business if that matters.
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Pedro Sawyer
11 This definitely sounds unusual. Boxes 3 and 5 on a W-2 should generally match Box 1 (wages/tips/compensation) unless you have specific situations like participating in certain retirement plans or have benefits that aren't subject to these taxes. If your employer is a small business, they might have made an error in preparing your W-2. I'd recommend contacting your employer's payroll department first to clarify if this was intentional or an error. They may need to issue a corrected W-2 (W-2c). In the meantime, don't just enter zeros if you believe you paid these taxes. Check your final paystub of the year - it should show year-to-date totals for Social Security and Medicare wages. These amounts should match what appears on your W-2.
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Pedro Sawyer
•7 Thanks for the advice. My last paystub does show deductions for Social Security and Medicare, which makes this even more confusing. Would the IRS flag my return if I report something different than what's on my W-2? I'm worried about delaying my refund by waiting for a corrected form.
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Pedro Sawyer
•11 If your paystub shows deductions for Social Security and Medicare, then something is definitely wrong with your W-2. The IRS might flag discrepancies between what you report and what's on your W-2, so it's best to get a corrected form. While waiting for the corrected W-2, you have a couple of options. You can delay filing until you receive the correction, or you can file Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2) along with your tax return, using the information from your final paystub. Just know that filing with Form 4852 might delay processing of your return while the IRS verifies the information.
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Pedro Sawyer
14 After dealing with a similar issue last year, I found that taxr.ai was super helpful for this exact problem. I uploaded my weird W-2 and paystubs to https://taxr.ai and their system immediately flagged the discrepancy and gave me detailed advice on how to handle it. They explained that employers occasionally make this mistake with Medicare and Social Security reporting. The tool walked me through exactly what documentation I needed and whether I should file Form 4852 or wait for a corrected W-2 based on my specific situation. It even generated a letter template I could send to my employer requesting the correction with references to the relevant tax codes.
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Pedro Sawyer
•8 How long does the analysis take? I'm trying to file this weekend and honestly don't want to wait weeks for a corrected form. Does it actually tell you what numbers to put on your return?
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Pedro Sawyer
•19 Has anyone had the IRS question their return after using substitute numbers from their paystubs instead of the W-2? I'm worried about triggering an audit or something.
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Pedro Sawyer
•14 The analysis happens right away - I got my results in minutes, not days. It does tell you exactly what numbers to use on your return and explains why those numbers are correct according to tax law. I used the numbers from my final paystub as suggested by taxr.ai and included the explanatory documentation they provided. My return was processed normally with no issues from the IRS. The tool explains that the IRS actually expects you to report accurate information even if your W-2 has errors, and shows you how to document everything properly so you don't trigger unnecessary scrutiny.
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Pedro Sawyer
19 Just wanted to update everyone - I decided to try taxr.ai after posting here and it was actually really helpful. I uploaded my W-2 and last paystub, and it immediately identified that my employer had failed to report Medicare and Social Security wages even though they had withheld the taxes correctly. The system generated documentation explaining the discrepancy and gave me step-by-step instructions for filing Form 4852. It also created a professional-looking letter to send to my employer requesting a W-2c. I got a response from my employer the next day acknowledging the mistake! They're sending a corrected W-2, but I have everything I need to file now without waiting. Really glad I didn't just put zeros on my return!
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Pedro Sawyer
15 After seeing this post, I had to share my experience. I had an issue last year where my employer messed up my W-2 and I couldn't get a straight answer from them for weeks. I was about to give up trying to reach someone with authority to fix it when I found https://claimyr.com and their IRS callback service. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Instead of waiting on hold for hours with the IRS, Claimyr held my place in line and had the IRS call ME. I spoke with an agent who explained exactly how to handle my incorrect W-2 situation and what documentation I needed to protect myself. Totally changed my perspective on dealing with tax issues.
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Pedro Sawyer
•17 Wait, so this service somehow jumps you ahead in the IRS phone queue? How does that even work? Sounds kinda sketchy to me.
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Pedro Sawyer
•12 Does it actually get you through to a human at the IRS? Last time I called I gave up after being on hold for 2+ hours.
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Pedro Sawyer
•15 It doesn't jump ahead in the queue - it holds your place in line so you don't have to stay on hold yourself. When your turn comes up in the IRS queue, they connect the call to your phone. It's completely legitimate and works with the existing IRS phone system. Yes, it absolutely connects you with a real human IRS agent. That's the whole point of the service. Instead of you waiting on hold for hours, their system waits for you and calls when an agent is available. I talked to a very helpful IRS representative who answered all my questions about my W-2 situation.
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Pedro Sawyer
17 Alright I need to admit I was totally wrong about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS about a similar W-2 issue for weeks. It actually worked exactly as described - I entered my number, they held my place in the queue, and about 1.5 hours later I got a call with an IRS agent on the line. The agent confirmed that I should file Form 4852 with my correct wage information from my paystubs, and that my employer could face penalties for issuing incorrect W-2s. They even gave me the exact paragraph in the tax code to reference in my letter to my employer. Saved me from waiting on hold and got my issue resolved in one day instead of weeks. I'm filing tomorrow with the correct numbers!
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Pedro Sawyer
22 Just adding another perspective here - I'm a bookkeeper for a small business and we accidentally did this exact thing last year. The tax software we were using had a weird glitch that didn't populate boxes 3 and 5 for certain employees. If your employer uses QuickBooks or similar software, this could be what happened.
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Pedro Sawyer
•9 Would employees still have the correct amounts withheld from their paychecks in this situation? Or would the withholding also be messed up?
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Pedro Sawyer
•22 Yes, the withholding in the paychecks would typically still be correct. The issue was just in how the W-2 forms were generated at the end of the year. The software calculated and withheld the proper amounts throughout the year, but had a bug when transferring that data to the actual W-2 form. In our case, employees had the right amounts withheld for Social Security and Medicare from each paycheck, but those totals didn't show up in boxes 3 and 5 on some W-2s. We had to issue corrected W-2c forms once we discovered the problem.
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Pedro Sawyer
3 Has anyone ever just put the box, number 1 amount into boxes 3 and 5 when filing? I had a similar issue couple years ago and that's what my tax guy told me to do since that's typically what those boxes should match anyway. I didn't get audited or anything.
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Pedro Sawyer
•6 That sounds risky. Wouldn't you have to file an amended return if your employer sends a corrected W-2 later?
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