Why do my W2 boxes 1, 3, and 5 all have vastly differing amounts? Something seems off

This definitely sounds unusual but there are some legitimate reasons why these boxes might have different values. Box 1 shows your federal taxable wages, which is typically lower than your gross because of pre-tax deductions like 401k, health insurance, etc. Box 3 shows your Social Security wages, which has a wage base limit ($147,000 in 2022, $160,200 in 2023). If you earned more than this limit, Box 3 would be capped. Box 5 shows Medicare wages, which has no wage cap - this should theoretically be higher than Box 3 if you earned above the SS limit. However, a $32,000 difference between Boxes 3 and 5 when Box 5 exceeds your total gross income definitely sounds suspicious. This could be a reporting error. I'd recommend contacting your HR or payroll department as you planned.

After spending countless hours trying to figure out W2 discrepancies last year, I finally discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which helped me make sense of my tax documents. I uploaded my W2 with similar box discrepancies, and the system explained exactly why my amounts were different. In my case, it turned out I had substantial non-qualified deferred compensation that was causing the boxes to show different values. The analysis even showed which specific payroll items were affecting each box!

Just wanted to follow up - I took the advice about taxr.ai and uploaded my tax documents. Their system immediately identified that my W2 box discrepancies were due to a combination of Section 125 cafeteria plan deductions and an error in how my employer calculated my group term life insurance value. It gave me a detailed explanation of exactly why each box had different amounts, which helped me have a productive conversation with my payroll department. They're actually issuing a corrected W2 now! Definitely saved me from potential IRS questions later.

If you've tried contacting your HR department about this W2 issue and they're being slow to respond (which happened to me), I'd recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to the IRS directly. I was in a similar situation where my W2 had major discrepancies and I needed to verify the correct amounts before filing. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent was able to check their records against what my employer had reported and confirm there was actually an error.

I have to eat my words here. After my skeptical comment yesterday, I decided to try Claimyr out of desperation because I have a similar W2 issue that my employer isn't addressing. I got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes after weeks of failed attempts on my own. The agent confirmed that my employer had reported different numbers to the IRS than what was on my W2 copy, and now I have documentation to take back to HR. Saved me from potentially filing incorrect information and dealing with a mess later.

This actually might not be a mistake. There are legitimate reasons for Box 5 to be higher than Box 3: 1. Did you have any non-qualified retirement plan contributions or distributions? 2. Do you have employer-provided life insurance over $50,000? 3. Did you exercise any stock options? I work in payroll and see this frequently. Box 5 includes ALL Medicare wages with no cap, while Box 3 has the Social Security wage base limit AND excludes certain types of compensation.

ALWAYS KEEP COPIES OF YOUR PAYSTUBS!! I had this exact same issue last year, and it turned out there was a major payroll error. The only way I could prove it was because I had saved all my paystubs and could show that the W2 totals didn't match what I'd actually been paid.

I had a similar situation where my Box 5 was significantly higher than my gross pay, and it turned out to be related to my employer's contribution to our health savings account (HSA). The employer HSA contributions are subject to Medicare tax but not Social Security tax, and they don't show up as part of your regular gross wages on paystubs. Another thing to check - if you had any mid-year salary changes, bonuses, or one-time payments, sometimes payroll systems can miscalculate the year-to-date totals. I'd definitely pull up all your paystubs from 2023 and add up the Medicare wages column to see if it matches Box 5. If it doesn't match, then you know for sure there's an error and you'll have documentation to show HR. The fact that Box 5 exceeds your total gross income is definitely a red flag though. That shouldn't happen under normal circumstances, so definitely worth investigating further.