Why does my amended W2 cause my tax liability to go up if my SS and Medicare wages went down?

[tflucke]

I got an amended W2 for 2022 from my employer which shows a decrease in boxes 3 and 5 (Social Security and Medicare wages).  I entered the information into TurboTax, but now it's saying that I owe more money.

I don't understand.  If my wages were reduced and I already paid the taxes on the non-reduced amount, shouldn't I get a refund?

[DoninGA]

If the only amount that changed on the corrected W-2 were the wages in boxes 3 and 5, there is no need to amend the 2022 tax return.  Those amounts are not entered anywhere on your federal tax return.

[VolvoGirl]

There is could be one reason.  Do you have more than 1 W2?  If you have more than 1 W2 you might have gone over the SS max and claimed an excess on your original return.  Check if you had an amount on 1040 line 31 which comes from Schedule 3 line 11.   For 2023 the max for Social Security is $9,932.40 on $160,200 of wages.  Then if your SS was reduced you have to pay the excess you claimed back.