Q. how can I accurately remove the excess income when I enter my W-2 into TurboTax and make a note of the adjustment for the IRS?
A. You can't. You must enter your W-2 exactly as shown.
Q. How can I file the form that will request a refund from the IRS for excess withholding my employer already did?
A. You can't. Any non-taxable feature of your employer's plan MUST be handled thru the W-2.
You may have been reading an older version of the employee manual or your employer hasn't updated it since the 2018 tax law change. But, even under the old law, that* is not a totally true statement. Employees were allowed a deduction for job related education. There may have been a provision to allow employers to exclude the excess from the W-2. But if it was on your W-2, you had to report it.
* " employees who were pursuing education that would increase their abilities in their current role did not need to report the excess tuition payments for themselves that were over the $5250 limit. "
