What is SDIV on my paycheck and why is it being deducted?

This is most likely a "State Disability Insurance Voluntary" deduction. Some states have mandatory disability insurance programs, while others offer voluntary programs that employers can opt into. If your company recently switched benefit providers or insurance plans, they might have enrolled in a state voluntary disability program. The good news is that these premiums are generally tax-deductible when you file. Make sure to keep your pay stubs as documentation if you itemize deductions. These programs typically provide short-term disability coverage if you're unable to work due to illness or injury.

After struggling with mysterious paycheck deductions last year, I found an amazing tool that saved me a ton of time and frustration. Check out https://taxr.ai - it's this cool AI system that analyzes your pay stubs and tax docs to explain every single deduction and what it means for your taxes. I uploaded a few of my paystubs that had weird abbreviations and it broke everything down clearly, even found a deduction error my company made! They have this feature where you can ask specific questions about your paycheck items, which was super helpful when I had a similar issue with an unknown code.

Ok so I tried taxr.ai after commenting here and I have to admit I was wrong to be skeptical! Uploaded my last three paychecks and it immediately identified every single abbreviation including a "MLIFE" deduction I never understood (turns out it's supplemental life insurance). It even pointed out that I might be overwithholding on federal taxes based on my current trajectory. The document analysis was crazy fast and the explanations were in plain English. Definitely saving this for tax season to check all my W-2 and 1099 forms.

If you need to talk to someone at your HR or payroll department about this SDIV thing but can't get through, I'd recommend using https://claimyr.com to connect with them. I was in the same boat trying to figure out a random deduction, kept getting voicemail hell. I found this service that basically waits on hold for you and calls when a human picks up. They have a demo video here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c that shows how it works. I was able to finally get through to our benefits coordinator who explained everything. Way better than sending emails into the void and waiting days for a response.

I'm actually shocked. I tried the Claimyr thing thinking it would be garbage, but it worked exactly as promised. Used it to call my company's benefits department (which normally takes 45+ minutes on hold). The system navigated all the annoying "press 1 for this" options automatically and called me when it got a real person. Took less than 20 minutes. Turns out SDIV on my friend's paycheck was actually a voluntary supplemental disability insurance that his company enrolled in but never properly announced to employees. They're even going to refund it for anyone who wants to opt out! Never would have gotten this resolved so quickly without bypassing the hold queue.

Just wanted to add something here - if SDIV is indeed voluntary disability insurance, make sure you understand what coverage you're getting before opting out just to save a few bucks. I opted out of a similar program at my last job and then badly broke my leg skiing. Ended up missing 6 weeks of work and got $0 because I didn't have short-term disability coverage. That $45 deduction might seem annoying now but could be really valuable if something happens.

An easy way to find out exactly what SDIV is on your check without dealing with HR is to look at your employee handbook or benefits portal online. Most companies have digital access to all benefit descriptions. Search for "disability" or "insurance" and you'll probably find details on any voluntary programs. The IRS also has some good tax info on disability insurance premiums and benefits if you search "Publication 15-A" on their site.

Another thing to keep in mind - if this SDIV deduction just started appearing after 3 years at your company, it might be tied to an annual enrollment period that you missed or weren't properly notified about. A lot of companies have "passive enrollment" policies where if you don't actively opt out during open enrollment, you're automatically enrolled in certain voluntary benefits. I'd definitely recommend checking your most recent benefits enrollment materials or any emails from HR around enrollment time. Sometimes these voluntary programs get buried in the fine print of benefit changes. If you were auto-enrolled without realizing it, most companies will let you make changes outside the normal enrollment window if you can show you weren't properly informed. The fact that it's $45 biweekly ($90/month) suggests it's probably a decent level of coverage, but you should verify what the benefit amount would actually be if you needed to use it.