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posted Jun 3, 2019 1:37:38 PM

I'm told my employer may have withheld too much social security tax and I'm being asked to get a corrected W-2. My employer says otherwise. Can I file as is?

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2 Replies
Level 15
Jun 3, 2019 1:37:40 PM

Check boxes 3 & 4 on your W2. Box 4 should be 6.2% of box 3 up to a max of $7,960.80.  So take the amount in box 3 and multiply it by .062. If box 4 is more than that you need to get a corrected W2 from your employer.  But also go back and double check your W2 entries, you may have entered box 3 & 4 wrong.  A lot of people who have asked this found they did enter an amount wrong.

A sure way to fix this is to delete the W2 and re-enter it.  That may clear something out.

Level 15
Jun 3, 2019 1:37:41 PM

Box 4 should be 0.062 (6.2%) of box 3, and not more than $7,960.80.

However, Turbotax may round up instead of rounding down.  If box 4 says $7,960.80, that may come across as $7961 and cause an error.  Or, another customer recently had a more modest income with about $2700 in social security tax.  The number in box 4 was something like "2750.51" which Turbotax rounded up to "2751" which then triggered an error as being $1 over.

I think you can file without fixing the error, just ignore it?  If the program won't let you e-file, try taking the cents off the box 4 amount and see if that clears the error.  I doubt the IRS will care if your W-2 says $2750.51 and you enter 2750.00.