Box 13 says that he is an "active percipient" in a employee retirement plan for any tax year that the employee *OR* employee contributed to the plan. Employer contributions will not be on the W-2 in box 12. It is possible for there to be an employer contribution and no employee contribution so nothing would be on box 12, but box 13 would still be checked.
**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
