I worked for 2 different legal entities who use the same EIN ("Agent for") to file my W2s. How can I get Turbo Tax to allow reimbursement of excess social security tax?

[Chelsea-Kondos]

My employer says "You will claim the refund for any excess taxes withheld through your Federal Income Tax Return Form-1040 (reference Schedule 3).".  But Turbo Tax says I need to request a W2c from my employeer.

[PattiF]

If you file with excess Social Taxes withheld, you won't be able to take a credit for the excess on your tax return. If you file with the excess withholdings on your return,  you may be subject to penalties and interest. Ideally, your employer should give you a refund for the excess amount. In your situation, you may need to file a Form 843 to claim the Excess amount that was withheld.

Please see this TurboTax Help article for more information about the options of what to do in your situation.

[Chelsea-Kondos]

When you file a Form 843, do you need to do anything different with your W2s and the information in your 1040?  Do I leave the W2s "as is"?  Everything on Turbo Tax mentions "don't file with excess".  But if I'm not getting a W2c, how can I do anything but file with excess Social Security tax?

[SteamTrain]

The same payroll "Agent" EIN issue for two different employers is fixable...but only when using the Desktop software.  And then, only using Forms Mode to make the correct overpayment entry on the Schedule 3 worksheet.

[DianeW777]

Yes, you leave the W-2s as is when filing Form 843. You should consider sending a letter of explanation or have the 'Agent for' payroll company provide a letter of explanation for you to send to the IRS.

As indicated above, you can use the TurboTax CD/Download version to make correction to the original return if you choose.  You should mail the return and include the W-2s and letter when mailing your tax return.  No Form 843 is required in this situation. The timing may actually be faster if you e-file and then send Form 843. 

@Chelsea-Kondos 

[erdoc000]

If  you use the forms to correct the excess social security amount, can you still e-file with turbotax? or are you then forced to print (and mail) the return?

[JohnB5677]

The IRS distinguishes between a single employer, and multiple employers.

@erdoc000 If you have multiple employers the excess Social Security will be entered on line 11 of your Schedule 3. and carried over to the 1040 line 31, and yes you can Efile.

"Employer's error - If any one employer withheld too much Social Security, Tier 1 RRTA tax, or Tier 2 RRTA tax, you can't claim the excess as a credit against your income tax. Your employer should adjust the excess for you. If the employer doesn't adjust the overcollection, you can use Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement to claim a refund.

Two or more employers - If you had more than one employer during the taxable year and your total wages and compensation were over the wage base limit for the year, the total Social Security tax or Social Security equivalent Tier 1 RRTA tax withheld may have exceeded the maximum amount due for the tax year. If you had more than one railroad employer, and your total compensation was over the maximum amount of wages subject to Tier 2 RRTA, the total Tier 2 RRTA tax withheld may have exceeded the maximum due for the tax year.

• If you had more than one employer and too much Social Security tax or Tier 1 RRTA tax withheld, you may be able to claim the excess as a credit against your income tax on your income tax return. Refer to “Excess Social Security and Tier 1 RRTA Tax Withheld” in the Instructions for Form 1040 (and Form 1040-SR) for more information.
• You may be entitled to a refund if you paid excess Tier 1 RRTA tax over the Tier 1 RRTA compensation base or if you paid excess Social Security tax over the Social Security wage base. The RRTA compensation base and Social Security wage base limits are separate and stand alone.
• If you had more than one employer and too much Tier 2 RRTA tax withheld, you may request a refund of the excess Tier 2 RRTA tax using Form 843PDF. Attach copies of your Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement for the year to Form 843."

Topic No. 608 Excess Social Security

[mmatrull44]

So you're saying to enter the multiple W2s as-is with the multiple Box 4 "Social Security tax withheld" #'s but then just update the forms to reflect?  Weird that Turbo Tax can't just take care of this for us like they do when its 2 different employers.