If Box 18 is 5K higher than Box 5, you will want to find out if the tax free employee benefits at the federal and state level are taxable to your local tax department. Some local tax departments will still tax these benefits. You can check with your employee to determine if your local tax department taxes these benefits. If they do not, you can use the amount in box 5 when entering the W-2. However, if your employer confirms that the local tax department does tax these benefits you will not be able to change the amount from what is listed in box 18. If your local tax department has a website, you can also look on their website for which employee benefits are taxable.
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