What is "Less Other Cafe 125" on my W-2 when I never enrolled in a cafeteria plan?

This "Less Other Cafe 125" notation on your W-2 refers to pre-tax deductions taken under a Section 125 Cafeteria Plan. Even if you don't remember specifically signing up for a "cafeteria plan," you might have enrolled in benefits that fall under this category. Common Section 125 deductions include health insurance premiums, dental insurance, vision coverage, flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or health savings accounts (HSAs). The reason you might not see it as a specific line item on your paystub is because these deductions often appear under the specific benefit name (like "Health Insurance" or "Medical Premium") rather than being labeled as "Cafe 125." The "Less" part indicates that this amount was already subtracted from your taxable wages reported to the IRS.

I had a similar issue last year and spent hours trying to decipher my W-2. Ended up using this AI tax helper at https://taxr.ai that actually explained exactly what all these weird codes meant on my forms. It analyzed my W-2 and showed that my employer had automatically enrolled me in our company's health plan (which was Section 125 compliant) even though I never explicitly "chose" a cafeteria plan. Apparently this is super common and the site explained how these pre-tax deductions actually saved me money. Worth checking out if you're still confused!

Just wanted to update - I tried that taxr.ai site that was mentioned and it actually cleared up my confusion immediately. I took a pic of just the section of my W-2 with the Cafe 125 notation and it explained that my company had auto-enrolled me in their basic health plan. The analysis showed that this actually reduced my taxable income by about $3,200 for the year which saved me around $700 in taxes! No wonder I got a bigger refund than expected that year. The site even showed me where to look on my paystubs - turns out the deduction was labeled as "Med. Premium" which I never connected to a "cafeteria plan." Mystery solved!

If you're still having trouble getting answers from your HR department, you might want to try using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to the IRS directly. I was in a similar situation where my employer's HR was useless and I needed to understand if my W-2 was prepared correctly. Spent weeks trying to get through to the IRS normally but the wait times were insane. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes who explained everything about how Section 125 plans appear on W-2s and confirmed that my employer had filed everything correctly. They have a video demo showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c

Alright I have to eat my words. After that frustrating interaction with the IRS website where I couldn't get any answers about my own cafeteria plan question, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes who confirmed that Section 125 deductions are frequently mislabeled or poorly explained by employers. The agent walked me through how to reconcile my W-2 with my paystubs and even explained how to request a corrected W-2 if needed. Honestly shocked that it worked so well after years of IRS phone nightmares. Definitely beats spending hours on hold only to get disconnected.

Serious question: Does anyone know if having these Cafe 125 deductions impacts your Social Security benefits later? Since they reduce your taxable income, does that mean you're contributing less to Social Security? I'm trying to understand if there's a downside to these pre-tax deductions I should know about.

You should check if your company offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - those are often automatically included in benefit packages and fall under Section 125. My company enrolled everyone in an EAP that cost like $5 per month pre-tax. Could be something small like that?

Just to add another perspective - if you're still confused about what specific benefits you might have been enrolled in, check if your company uses a benefits portal or system like Workday, BambooHR, or ADP. Sometimes you can log in and see a history of your benefit elections, even from previous years. I discovered I had been enrolled in a dependent care FSA that I completely forgot about signing up for during open enrollment. The portal showed exactly when I enrolled and what the monthly deduction was. It might help you piece together what's causing that Cafe 125 line on your W-2.

This is such a common source of confusion! I went through the exact same thing a couple years ago. The key thing to remember is that "Cafeteria Plan" is just the IRS term for any pre-tax benefit deduction - it doesn't mean you literally signed up for something called a "cafeteria plan." Most likely scenarios: 1) Your employer automatically enrolled you in basic health insurance during onboarding, 2) You might have a small deduction for something like life insurance or disability coverage that was included in your benefits package, or 3) There could be a minimal Employee Assistance Program fee. The good news is that this actually SAVED you money on taxes since these deductions reduce your taxable income. Check your paystubs for any deductions labeled as "Health," "Medical," "Insurance," "EAP," or similar - they often don't say "Cafe 125" directly. You can also try logging into your company's benefits portal to see what you were enrolled in during 2019.

I work in payroll administration and see this confusion all the time! The "Less Other Cafe 125" line is actually a summary line showing the total amount of pre-tax deductions that were subtracted from your gross wages before calculating federal income tax. Here's what likely happened: During your onboarding process, you were probably presented with a benefits enrollment form that had default selections already checked (like basic health insurance coverage). Many employees just sign the form without realizing they're agreeing to automatic deductions. To figure out exactly what you were enrolled in, look for these common Section 125 deductions on your 2019 paystubs: - Health insurance premiums (often labeled "Medical," "Health Plan," or "Ins-Health") - Dental/Vision coverage - Flexible Spending Account contributions (FSA) - Basic life insurance premiums - Employee Assistance Program fees (usually very small, like $2-5/month) The amount shown as "Less Other Cafe 125" on your W-2 should equal the total of all these pre-tax deductions for the entire year. Don't worry - this actually benefited you by reducing your taxable income and saving you money on federal taxes!

I had this exact same confusion when I first started working! The "Less Other Cafe 125" notation threw me off completely because I had never heard the term "cafeteria plan" during my hiring process. What I eventually figured out is that most employers don't actually use the term "cafeteria plan" when they're enrolling you - they just present it as your standard benefits package. During my onboarding, I was given a form that said something like "Default Health Coverage" and I just checked a box without realizing it was technically enrolling me in a Section 125 plan. The tricky part is that different companies label these deductions differently on paystubs. Mine showed up as "Hlth Ins" which I never connected to "Cafe 125" on my W-2. Once I made that connection, everything clicked into place. If you're still unsure what specific benefit caused this deduction, try calling your benefits administrator (not just general HR) - they usually have much more detailed records and can walk you through exactly what you were enrolled in during 2019. They can also explain whether you have the option to opt out for future years if you prefer.

I'm going through something similar right now with my 2023 W-2! After reading through all these helpful responses, I wanted to share what worked for me in case it helps others. I called my company's benefits hotline (the number was actually printed on my insurance card, not through general HR) and they were able to pull up my entire enrollment history going back several years. Turns out I had three different Section 125 deductions I completely forgot about: basic health insurance ($180/month), a small life insurance premium ($8/month), and something called "commuter benefits" that I must have signed up for during orientation but never used ($25/month). All of these showed up as one combined "Less Other Cafe 125" line on my W-2. The benefits rep also explained that I could request a detailed breakdown statement that shows exactly how each deduction was calculated throughout the year, which was super helpful for understanding my tax documents. She said most people don't realize they can request this kind of documentation, but it's available if you ask. Just thought I'd mention this option since so many people seem to struggle with piecing together what these deductions actually represent!

Reading through all these responses, I'm amazed at how common this confusion is! I went through the exact same thing last year and felt like I was the only one who didn't understand basic tax terminology. What really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet where I listed every deduction from my paystubs throughout the year and then matched them to the corresponding lines on my W-2. It took about an hour, but it was like solving a puzzle - suddenly all those cryptic abbreviations and codes made sense. For anyone still struggling with this: don't feel embarrassed about not knowing what "Cafe 125" means. The IRS uses a lot of technical jargon that employers rarely explain clearly during onboarding. Most of us are just trying to get through the paperwork and start working! The important thing is that these pre-tax deductions are actually helping you save money, even if the terminology is confusing. Also, I'd recommend keeping better track of your benefit enrollments going forward. Take screenshots or photos of your enrollment confirmations during open enrollment periods - it'll save you so much headache next tax season when you're trying to figure out what everything means on your W-2.

Just wanted to add another angle to this discussion that might help people avoid this confusion in the future. When you start a new job, ask your HR representative to walk you through every single deduction that will appear on your paystub during your benefits orientation - even the tiny ones. I learned this the hard way after going through the same "mystery deduction" experience. Now when I help onboard new employees at my company, I specifically show them a sample paystub and explain how each deduction will eventually show up as part of the "Cafe 125" total on their W-2. It takes an extra 10 minutes during orientation, but it prevents so much confusion down the road. Also, if your company offers it, sign up for electronic access to your paystubs and W-2s through your payroll system. Having digital access makes it much easier to search for specific deductions and compare year-over-year data when tax time comes around. You can usually search by keywords like "medical" or "insurance" to quickly find relevant deductions instead of manually scanning through months of paper stubs. The tax code terminology is definitely confusing, but once you understand that "Section 125 Cafeteria Plan" is just the IRS's fancy way of saying "pre-tax benefit deductions," it all becomes much clearer!

This thread has been incredibly helpful for understanding Section 125 deductions! I'm dealing with the same confusion on my 2024 W-2 and was starting to worry my employer had made an error. One thing I'd add for anyone still puzzling through this: if you have access to your company's employee self-service portal, look for a section called "Benefits Summary" or "Annual Benefits Statement" - many companies generate these automatically but don't always tell employees they exist. Mine showed a complete breakdown of every pre-tax deduction for the year, including things I had completely forgotten about like a $3/month voluntary accident insurance that I must have agreed to during open enrollment. It's reassuring to see how many people have gone through this same experience. The terminology really is unnecessarily confusing - "cafeteria plan" makes it sound like you're buying lunch at work, not paying for health insurance! But knowing that it actually saved money on taxes makes the mystery deduction feel a lot less scary.