Form W-2 box 11. That is my annual bonus. Is that money I took out or contributed to my plan? I didn't do either but TurboTax is asking me to choose one or the other.

[midvalve77]

My employer put our annual bonus payments in box# 11 on form W-2. It's categorized as Nonqualified plans. I don't understand what TurboTax is asking me in the tool regarding did I take money out or contribute to this plan. It was a bonus payment.

[dmertz]

Is this bonus some sort of signing bonus for which there is no risk of forfeiture but is paid out to you over several years.  If so that's what the amount in box 11 represents.  However, an "annual bonus" would not seem to be anything like that and would be improper to be present in box 11.

An amount properly reported in box 11 represents an amount on which Social Security and Medicare taxes were paid in an earlier year and would be excluded from boxes 3 and 5.  Anything earned in the current year and paid to you must be included in boxes 3 and 5 and should not be present in box 11.

[midvalve77]

No it's not a signing bonus. It's our annual incentive plan bonus paid out once per year. The bonus was lumped in with my regular paycheck and all applicable taxes were taken out (Fed, SS, Medicare, State) etc. Definitely wasn't something that was earned the year prior. Box 11 appears to represent deferred plans or plans in general; nothing to do with annual bonus payments.

[dmertz]

Then you should request a corrected Form 1099-R.  If the employer put an amount in box 11, they might also have inappropriately omitted the same amount from boxes 3 and 5, not withheld the correct amount of Social Security and Medicare taxes from the bonus and not paid the correct amount of Social Security and Medicare taxes to the Social Security Administration.

[TomD8]

@midvalve77 

I think TT is asking if you actually received the $ reported in Box 11 of your W2, or if the payment was deferred.

[dmertz]

TomD8, box 11 should have nothing in it.  Box 11 would only report amounts not received if they were prior-year deferrals that vested in the current year, making them subject to inclusion in Boxes 3 and 5 of the current-year's W-2.  Otherwise an amount in box 11 represents an amount deferred and vested in a previous year that was paid out in the current year.  In other words, box 11 is only for reporting amounts that were deferred in a previous year but vested in the current year or amounts that vested in a previous year and were paid out in the current year.

In this case the bonus was apparently an annual bonus earned in the current year, 2020, so it doesn't get included in box 11 whether paid out or deferred.  See Example 1 of the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Reporting Example Chart in the instructions for Forms W2 and W-3.