KrisD15
Expert Alumni

State tax filing

Correct, Florida does not have a state income tax which is why you would enter zero (0) in Box 17.

 

The Alabama state return adds the amounts from your W-2 Boxes 16 and compares that to Box 1 on your W-2.

Box 15 reports which state the income "belongs to".

If you earned the wages in Florida, the income "belongs" to Florida

Box 16 reports how much of the income on the W-2 "belongs" to the state (the listed in Box 15).

Box 17 reports how much state tax was withheld for that income and sent to that state.

 

As you said, Florida does not have state income tax, so no one uses box 15 for Florida., and they also 

do not use boxes 16,or 17. 

 

If you have no amount in Box 16, or only a part of what is reported in Box 1, Alabama gets confused. 

 

In order to explain to Alabama that the wages "belong" to Florida, you need to make the adjustment on the W-2 as posted above. 

 

  • Box 15-      FL
  • Box 16-      The amount of wages earned in Florida
  • Box 17-      0 (zero) Florida does not require tax withholding

 

Also, as stated above, use the Federal ID Number (EIN) for the state ID, or it may again be rejected. 

 

 

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