Box 12 Codes on Tax Form W-2 Explained

Kira Botkin

w2 form pen Below is the explanation of the Box 12 Codes on the W-2 tax form.

A - Any uncollected Social Security tax or RRTA tax on tips. You’ll include this amount in your total tax liability on your Form 1040.

B - Any uncollected Medicare tax on tips. You’ll include this amount in your total tax liability on Form 1040.

C - If you had group term life insurance through your workplace, the premiums for any value over $50,000 become taxable income to you and are included here.

D - Contributions to a 401k or SIMPLE 401k retirement plan.

E - Contributions to a 403b retirement plan.

F - Contributions to an SEP IRA retirement plan.

G - Contributions that you made and any employer contributions to a 457b retirement plan.

H - Contributions to a 501(c) tax-exempt plan.

J - Non-taxable sick pay.

K - Excise tax (equal to 20%) on excess “golden parachute” payments.

L - Reimbursements for employee business expenses.

M - Uncollected Social Security tax or RRTA tax on the premium value of taxable group term life insurance over $50,000 for former employees.

N - Uncollected Medicare tax on the premium value of taxable group term life insurance over $50,000 for former employees.

P - Reimbursements for job relocation moving expenses paid directly to you, and not included in boxes 1, 3, or 5.

Q - Non-taxable combat pay. This isn’t subject to tax, but you can use it to calculate your Earned Income Credit if it will help.

R - Employer contributions to an Archer Medical Savings Account. These are not common anymore.

S - Employee contributions to a SIMPLE retirement plan.

T - Any adoption benefits paid to you by your employer. Use Form 8839 to calculate what portion may be taxable income.

V - Income from exercising non-statutory stock options.

W - Employer contributions to your health savings account (HSA). You will need to report this amount on Form 8889.

Y - Salary deferrals under your 409A non-qualified deferred compensation plan.

Z - Income received under 409A non-qualified deferred compensation plan.

AA - Designated Roth contributions to a 401k retirement plan.

BB - Designated Roth contributions to a 403b retirement plan.

DD – Cost of employer-sponsored healthcare (this amount is not taxable.)

EE – Designated Roth contributions to a governmental 457b retirement plan.

Published or updated: March 1, 2013
Categories: Money Management, Taxes

Kira Botkin
Kira is a longtime blogger and serial entrepreneur who enjoys gardening, garage sales, and finding stray animals. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, where football is a distinct season, and by day runs a research study for people with multiple sclerosis. She hopes that the MoneyCrashers team can help you achieve your goals and live a great life.

Learn more About Money Crashers - including co-founders Andrew Schrage and Gyutae Park.

Comments

Bjacks304

If we give our employee an option of putting post-tax dollars in a 403B Roth, is it need to be reported on the W2 and if so where?
- Kira Botkin
  
  Since the money is post-tax, it should remain as part of their taxable wages. The money that goes under the various codes must be separated out because it gets special tax treatment, but the post-tax money in a Roth 403(b) is treated no differently than the rest of their wages because they are paying regular tax on it.
- Kira Botkin
  
  Sorry, I correct myself: It does go on their W2, but is reported as code 12 BB.
Charlie Miller

I have an employee that received a small reimbursement for relocation (not taxable). The amount was not puton his W-2, Box 12 as a P memo. He has already filed his taxes using the EZ 1040 form.

Do I need to give him a corrected W-2 form? My payroll provider says I do not since there is no where to report box 12 and there is nothing to amend???
- Kira Botkin
  
  Yes, you should give him a corrected W-2 form. And you should maybe get a new payroll provider – only 12A through 12D have dedicated spaces, so do they think you don’t have to bother reporting anything for codes 12E through 12BB?
  
  He should not need to refile his taxes, though, since it is not taxable income.
Sophia

We are starting a “SIMPLE IRA” for our employees. We are wondering if we should select box “s” or “d” for box 12 on the W2 form. Would you please advise us? thank you!
- Kira Botkin
  
  That would be box S for an IRA. box D is for a SIMPLE 401k.
Marth

i file our taxes online every year.
my husband always has an”OC” code in box 12 of his W-2, i aways skip this item because online pograms dont provide this optionor allow a write in. what is it??
- Kira Botkin
  
  That is an interesting question. I don’t find anything about this in the W2 instructions, but on other forms “OC” is used to denote a payment made to someone in another country. Could that be it?
  - Marth
    
    nope, my husband works in a steel mill in western PA. A family member suggested it’s an occupational tax taxed by the state? $52 this year i blieve $50 last timearound
F2bsfoster

I work for the government and was deployed more than half of last year and the year before, they take taxes out of my check because we are classifed as DOD. Do you know how to ask for foreign tax forgivness to be able to receive all or most of what was paid in?
- Kira Botkin
  
  I’m not sure what you mean – were taxes taken out by the government of the country you lived in? I have never heard that people working for the DOD in other countries have different tax rates than people who work in the US.
Keezodavis

what if i have no codes on box 12?
- Kira Botkin
  
  Then you didn’t have any of the special situations listed above, which is perfectly normal.
Jacque

What does it mean if there is a DD in Box 12? could you explain that better?
- Kira Botkin
  
  I will update the article – DD is the cost of employer-sponsored healthcare, which is not a taxable amount.
Carrotjuicex3

I am using turbo tax but on my w-2 I have nothing in the 12a-d boxes. But turbo tax is saying to write the code and the amount. I don’t know what to write. Help!!

-Emily.
- Kira Botkin
  
  If you don’t have anything, don’t put anything in.
Ieatbooks92

my box says “D 12″. does the 12 matter? does that mean I need to write down code D and the amount?
- Kira Botkin
  
  If $12 seems like a logical amount for you to have contributed to a 401k or SIMPLE retirement plan this year, yes.
angela

i received my husbands w2 and in box 12 b there is an amount and the notation DD. Is this where they are reporting the value of our health insurance premiums ?
in the past this area listed the amounts the employee pays and this year that amount in the box is much more than we paid for our health insurance.
- angela
  
  ok, i figured it out.. the fine print on the back of these forms is hard to read.
  and the answer is yes it is related to healthcare.
  - Kira Botkin
    
    Yes, it is the cost of your employer-sponsored healthcare.
TATJANA

IF I HAVE THE AMOUNT IN BOX 12 AND IS MARKED WITH DD DO I NEED TO CLAIM IT ON MY TAX FORM PLEASE HELP THANK YOU
- Kira Botkin
  
  The DD box is for the cost of employer sponsored healthcare and is not a taxable amount.
  - TATJANA
    
    I AM SORRY I DONT WANT TO SOUND SO STUPID BUT IF I PUT IT IN IT CHANGES MY RETURN SO MUCH DOUBLE TO BE EXACT SO ARE YOU SAYING I DO HAVE TO PUT IT IN OR?
    - Kira Botkin
      
      Your tax program should have an drop down menu or something where you select which code you’re using. As long as you are sure that it is DD that you’re selecting, you should put in whatever is on your form next to DD.
Emailmeii

What do we do with the box 12 dd? Where do I put it on what form 1040 or 1040ez?
- Kira Botkin
  
  You don’t put it on the 1040 or 1040EZ. It doesn’t affect your taxable income, and you will send one of your W-2 copies in to the IRS with your 1040.
Efmyers

on w2 wages 13.600 on box 12 DD it shows 13.135 is it a mistake
- Kira Botkin
  
  Box 12 code DD shows the amount that your employer spent on your health insurance this year. It looks like you either have a very good health insurance plan, or a lot of kids. I have no way of knowing if this is a mistake – if you are concerned you should contact your employer.
Jimbo

box 12a has Code A $414.00 listed. What is this ? I don’t have a job where I receive tips.
- Kira Botkin
  
  You should contact whoever generated your W-2, sounds like there is an error.
Kris

Since 12dd is the amount contributed by employer and is not taxable, turbo ask for the amount and code, should I put the amount in there
Thx for your help
- Kira Botkin
  
  Yes.
http://www.facebook.com/Erik.Muad.Dib Erik Rønning

I work for UPS; they provide healthcare (bluecross/blueshield). My box 12 has code DD, and lists ~$5,500. in the box. However in the past 12 months, I never saw a doctor once, no one else is covered on my plan, and I went to the dentist once for a cleaning. Is this a mistake? Or is it possible that the company just assigns a portion of their total overall cost to each employee because the reporting is mostly irrelevant?
- Kira Botkin
  
  It doesn’t matter what services you actually consumed – that is the difference between insurance and a bank account. When you have insurance you do not pay just for the services you consume, you also pay for the services you might consume. So your company has to pony up some amount for every person that the insurance covers whether they incur any costs or not. Most people who have employer-provided insurance do not realize how small a fraction of their own healthcare costs they are actually paying.
  
  If you went a whole year without having any car accidents, would you expect your car insurance company to give you back the money? You were paying them money so that they would cover you if something happened – you weren’t paying as you go for stuff that DID happen.
Ed Jones

My Box 12a says C – $19.35 Do I have to include this on my taxes? On line 2 of 1040ez?
Also I have on line 12b DD 5000, Do I have to list this on 1040ez anyplace?
- Kira Botkin
  
  The amount under code C is taxable income, yes. It should already be included in box 1, so you don’t need to add it again.
  The amount under code DD is not taxable and does not need to be added.
sb

box 12b code w…

says $1300 and drop down menu on codes says Employer contribution to HSA.

I have an HSA, but the employer does not put in money…it all is paid by the employee.

My company bean counter and the insurance company are miffed. Hope you can help
- Kira Botkin
  
  If that isn’t correct, you need to go back to your company and ask for a correction. I am not clear why the company accountant is miffed in this situation.
Jt

If you don’t have anything for 12 a-d do you just write 0 in the boxes? Turbo tax doesn’t let me continue unless you put something in
- Kira Botkin
  
  If you absolutely have to I suppose you could but I would try very hard not to enter a value for something for which you don’t have a value.
Oliver

This doesn’t tell me much. Where do these numbers go into on my federal return?
- Kira Botkin
  
  They don’t. Any amount listed in a box 12 space has already been accounted for at the top of your W-2, by either adding it or subtracting it from your federal and state taxable income. There is a requirement for your employer to report each of these amounts to the federal government, and since they have to send the W-2 to the government anyway, that is the best way to do it. But you do not have to do anything with the numbers yourself.
http://twitter.com/happykidsinc Meg, Happy Kids, Inc

Glad I found your post! We sold some NQSO this year. We received a 1099 that showed all the sales. It did not, however, show the federal and state taxes that we paid (that column was blank). But our monthly financial statement does indeed confirm that we had paid those taxes. Our financial broker says those taxes are reported on line 12V on our W2. But per your description (as well as the one on the actual W2), this says that it is income from that stock option sale. So, I am confused. I want to make sure we get credited for those taxes we paid. Thank you for your help.
- Kira Botkin
  
  Does the amount in line 12V correspond to the amount you think you should have in there? If it is, I’d see if you can get some kind of statement from the broker showing all the taxes you paid that year, and hang onto those statements, and hopefully things will match up back at the IRS. If not, you should maybe have your broker go back to whoever’s responsible for generating those statements and make sure amount B didn’t get put on line A accidentally.
paul

hi kira, my box 12 code dd amount =7,800.00 can this be right? and moreover this is killing my income tax return, last year I git back1300. this year it’s only 300. with this new code dd, is this right? i dont hear people saying that code dd reduced their returns drastically like it has mine.
- Kira Botkin
  
  No, that should not affect anything. That is not taxable income. To see if your tax program has an error, go back and change the amount to $1 and see what happens. There are always minor changes to tax rules each year so you are very unlikely to get exactly the same amount back each year, and few people have exactly the same income and situation each year.
km

on my W-2, box 12a has “C 2194.56″ I had no other income that would qualify for 12a. Should this amount go in box 12c as I did have group-term life insurance
- Kira Botkin
  
  If that is an appropriate amount for what you spent on the life insurance, I’d go ahead and do that, and include a note with your tax documents that that’s what you did. It sounds like somebody typoed.
http://profiles.google.com/hdtvcamera Stephen Carmona

Thank you Kira!

Box 12 Codes on Tax Form W-2 Explained

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