W2 confusion - Why did I pay more into Social Security than I actually earned??

That definitely doesn't sound right. Social Security tax should be 6.2% of your wages up to the annual limit ($164,100 for 2025). There's no way your withholding should be more than your total earnings. Check the boxes on your W2 carefully. Box 3 shows your Social Security wages and Box 4 shows Social Security tax withheld. Make sure you're comparing the right numbers. Also, look at Box 1 (federal taxable wages) and compare it to Box 3. Sometimes these numbers can be different due to pre-tax deductions. If after double-checking you confirm that Box 4 is actually larger than Box 3, then there's definitely an error on your W2. Your employer would need to issue a corrected W2 (W2-c). I'd recommend reaching out to your employer's payroll department first before contacting the IRS.

I had a similar issue last year and spent HOURS trying to figure it out before I finally used this AI tax document analyzer at https://taxr.ai that saved me so much hassle. I uploaded my W2 and it immediately flagged the error and explained exactly what was wrong. Turned out my employer had accidentally put a decimal point in the wrong place on my Social Security wages (making it look like I earned way less than I actually did). The tool also generated a detailed explanation I could send to HR to get it fixed. Seriously wish I had found it before wasting an entire day comparing numbers and googling tax codes! And it works with all kinds of tax docs, not just W2s.

Wanted to update everyone - I ended up trying that taxr.ai site after my accountant told me he couldn't meet with me for another 3 weeks. It flagged exactly what was wrong within like 30 seconds! Turned out my employer had entered my wages in Box 3 as $1,243.50 instead of $12,435.00 (they dropped a digit), but the Social Security withholding in Box 4 was calculated on my actual earnings. So it LOOKED like my SS withholding was way higher than my reported wages. I showed the report to my company's HR dept and they're issuing a corrected W2. Really glad I didn't just ignore this - would have been filing with completely wrong info!

If you're having trouble getting through to your employer about this, I'd recommend Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I had a similar issue but with federal withholding, and my employer was dragging their feet fixing it. I needed to talk to someone at the IRS but kept getting the "due to high call volume" message for DAYS. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I'd been trying for over a week on my own. They have this neat system that essentially waits on hold for you - you can see a demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent I spoke with explained exactly what documentation I needed to resolve the issue even without a corrected W2.

Well I'll be damned. I tried Claimyr yesterday after posting that skeptical comment. Got connected to an IRS agent in 22 minutes when I'd been trying for DAYS on my own. The agent confirmed that employers absolutely have to fix W2 errors and gave me the exact wording to use with HR to light a fire under them. I was 100% sure this was going to be a scam but it actually delivered exactly what it promised. Already got an email from payroll saying they're processing my corrected W2. Saved me so much stress during an already stressful tax season!

Could it be that you're looking at Medicare withholding (which is Box 6) instead of Social Security withholding (Box 4)? Medicare is a smaller percentage (1.45%) but people mix them up all the time. Also, check if there's any year-to-date info on your last paystub from that job and compare it to what's on your W2. Sometimes that helps spot errors.

Did you have any tips included in this job? Sometimes tip income can cause weird things to happen on W2s with how they're reported vs. how they're taxed.

That's definitely a major error on your W2! Based on the numbers you shared ($2,186.45 in SS wages but $2,710.91 in SS tax withheld), your employer somehow withheld about 124% of your total wages as Social Security tax. That's literally impossible under normal circumstances. You absolutely need to get this corrected before filing your taxes. Contact your employer's payroll department immediately with screenshots of both your W2 and your final paystub showing the discrepancy. They are legally required to issue you a corrected W2 (Form W-2c) to fix this error. If they give you any pushback or delays, you can also file Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2) with the IRS using the correct information from your paystubs, but getting the actual corrected W2 is definitely the better route. Don't let them tell you to "just file it as is" - this kind of error will cause major problems with your tax return.