Federal and State Wages are different, but I don't have a state tax anyway

[LadyLilli]

I live in Texas and being impatient, always file the day I get my W-2. I didn't notice until after filing that my state wages were misreported. (Fun fact, my employer managed to screw up literally everybody's W-2, thousands of them. Anyway, I haven't been able to find my specific question elsewhere, and I don't know when I might get a corrected form, so my question is this: Will the incorrect state wages affect my refund at all? I plan to amend regardless, but I'm mostly curious if it even affects anything at all considering Texas doesn't have a state income tax.

And also, since I know my state and federal wages should've been identical, could I amend without a W2-C, since I know the federal wages is the correct number?

[BrittanyS]

If you have already filed your 2022 return, you want to amend it once your return has been accepted and you have received your refund, if you are getting a refund.  If you were to amend the return beforehand, it could cause issues with the processing.  

Please wait on your corrected W-2 to make sure there are no other changes made to your W-2 other than your state wages being incorrect.  If the state wages are the only information that was corrected, you will likely not need to take any additional steps.  Since you know there were errors made on the W-2 and that the W-2 is already being corrected, you will want to verify all information on your W-2-C matches what was entered on the return.  If you do need to amend your return, you can follow these steps after your return is accepted and processed by the IRS:

1. Sign in to TurboTax
2. Scroll down to Your tax returns & documents
3. Select the year you want to amend
4. Select Amend (change) return
5. Then Amend using TurboTax Online

If you're told to amend your return via TurboTax Desktop, follow the steps for TurboTax CD/Download below instead:

1. On the screen, OK, let's get a kickstart on your amended return
2. Select the reason(s) you're amending and Continue
3. When you reach Here's the info for your amended federal return, select Start next to the info you need to change
4. Continue through the screens, make the changes you need to make, and carefully answer the remaining questions to finish amending your return

For more information on amending returns, see the link below:

How do I amend my federal tax return?

[LadyLilli]

Can I amend my return without a W-2 C? I have no way of requesting a corrected W-2 from my employer, and management just tells me 'corporate knows there's a problem'. But by looking at paystubs, I was able to confirm where the error was and I know the the only change I need to make is to make the state income the same number as the federal income. Can I submit an amendment without additional documents or am I just stuck in limbo here without additional paperwork from my employer?

[AnnetteB6 · Accepted solution]

You mentioned that you live in Texas where there is no state income tax.  Unless you worked in a different state that does have a state income tax, the fact that your W-2 shows an incorrect amount for your state taxes is irrelevant.  That amount is only used to prepare a state income tax return and has no bearing on your Federal tax return.  You will not need to amend your Federal return at all because nothing would change.

If you did work in another state and the state section of your W-2 is reporting income and withholdings from another state other than Texas, your Federal return still will not change once that information has been corrected.  However, any other state tax return that you filed may need to be amended.  If that is the case, you should wait for the corrected W-2 from your employer before doing anything.  The IRS and that state will need to have received the corrected W-2 as well.

@LadyLilli

[SteamTrain]

@LadyLilli 

Stick with the response from  @AnnetteB6 , she is absolutely on target.

[LadyLilli]

@AnnetteB6I've never so much as stepped foot out of Texas, let alone worked outside it. Your answer is actually precisely what I was wondering. I thought the state income was irrelevant to me, but I wasn't certain. So since Texas has no state income tax, and my federal income is correct, then I don't need to amend? Because that was definitely making me nervous and I felt really dumb afterwards for not noticing until after I filed. Thank you for the insight.