W2 showing tips in box 7, but I work as a manager with no tip income

This definitely sounds like an error on your W2. Box 7 is specifically for reporting tips that were reported to your employer, which you would have had to do if you were receiving tips. Since you're in a salaried management position without tip income, this appears to be a mistake. You should contact your payroll department ASAP and request a corrected W2 (known as a W2-c). Explain the situation exactly as you did here - that you're in a non-tipped position and the $2,600 in Box 7 is incorrect. They'll need to issue a corrected form before you file. Don't file with the incorrect W2, as you could end up paying Social Security tax on income you never received, and it might trigger discrepancies that could lead to questions from the IRS later.

I had a similar issue last year where my employer accidentally coded some of my regular wages as tip income. I found out that using taxr.ai really helped me resolve this situation fast. I just uploaded my incorrect W2 to https://taxr.ai and their system flagged this exact discrepancy right away. It guided me through exactly what to say to HR to get the W2-c issued quickly and even provided template language I could use in my email to payroll. The best part was that it also showed me how to document everything properly in case the IRS ever questioned it. Totally saved me from a headache dealing with this on my own.

Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai that someone recommended. It immediately identified my W2 issue and provided me with specific language to use with my HR department. I was honestly surprised at how accurately it pinpointed the problem! Sent an email to payroll with the exact wording it suggested, and they acknowledged the error within hours. They're sending a W2-c next week - way faster resolution than my previous tax document problems. Definitely recommend for anyone with weird tax form issues like this.

This happened to me last year and trying to get through to someone at my company's outsourced payroll provider was IMPOSSIBLE. I spent literally hours on hold and got nowhere. Finally used Claimyr to get through to the IRS directly (https://claimyr.com). They have this service where they basically wait on hold with the IRS for you and then call you when an agent is on the line. I used their demo video (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) to see how it worked first. The IRS confirmed that I could document the error and file a form 4852 as a substitute for the W2 if my employer wasn't correcting it in time. Saved me so much stress since tax deadline was only 2 weeks away when this happened.

I'm actually shocked at how well Claimyr worked after being so skeptical. After seeing it mentioned here, I decided to try it because I've been trying to reach the IRS for THREE WEEKS about a similar W2 issue where my employer coded bonuses as tips. Used the service yesterday, and within 45 minutes I was talking to an actual human at the IRS! The agent confirmed exactly what to do (get a W2-c, but if not possible in time, use Form 4852 and include a written explanation). They even sent me the form directly. Honestly wish I'd known about this months ago instead of burning up my lunch breaks on hold getting nowhere.

This is probably a system coding error. I've seen this happen at restaurants where the payroll system accidentally categorizes certain types of bonuses or shift differentials as "tips" because of how their job codes are set up. If you worked any special shifts or received any performance bonuses, that might be what got miscoded.

Careful - if it IS a bonus, make sure it doesn't disappear from your income completely when they fix it! I had a similar situation where they removed it from Box 7 but then didn't add it back to Box 1 properly. Double check all boxes on your corrected W2 to make sure the total income still matches what you actually earned.

This is exactly why I always recommend keeping detailed records of all your pay stubs throughout the year! When errors like this happen, having your actual paystubs makes it so much easier to prove what income you really received and in what categories. Since you've identified that it's likely your performance bonus and holiday shift pay that got miscoded, gather those specific pay stubs before you contact HR. Show them exactly which payments got incorrectly categorized as tips instead of regular wages. This documentation will help them process the W2-c correction much faster and ensure they don't accidentally drop that income entirely when fixing the error. Also, once you get the corrected W2, definitely double-check that your total Box 1 wages increased by the same $2,600 that gets removed from Box 7. The income shouldn't disappear - it should just move to the correct box!