What does W-2 Box 13 Retirement Plan mean?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 7, 2019
1 reply
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I imported my W-2 into TurboTax, and it looks like it matches the printed form I received from my employer, except for Box 13. In the import, TurboTax showed Retirement Plan as checked. On my printed form, it is not checked.

I have a 401K with my employer, but I did not make any contributions in 2016.

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Anonymous

The "retirement plan" box will be "checked" by your employer if you had the opportunity to contribute to an employer-sponsored plan such as a 401k. The only purpose of that box is determining if your IRA contributions are deductible.

Stick with the imported data (box IS checked). It shouldn't make a difference unless you contributed to a traditional IRA (separate from your 401k).

bryanjkayAuthor

Level 2

Thank you for your quick reply. To help clarify my situation: I have a 401K that I have contributed to in the past, and I could have contributed in 2016, but chose not to. So, if Box 13 Retirement Plan indicates my eligibility, it sounds like Box 13 Retirement Plan should have been checked. (As of now, I have not contributed to my IRA for the 2016 tax year.)

This leads me to questions and concerns like:

- Where does TurboTax import my W-2 from?

- If TurboTax gets it from my employer, that suggests there was a correction, because the form I have is different. If so, shouldn't I have received a corrected form? I know somewhere in the return process there is something to click if I got a corrected W-2, but I didn't receive one.

- In case it matters, there is a verification number on my W-2. TurboTax indicates this is not common. The verification number, whatever it's for, matches between the TurboTax import and my printed form.