topic Incorrect information line 1a 1040 in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Incorrect information line 1a 1040

noclue1040 — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 13:55:43 GMT

I submitted my taxes last month and two weeks later I received a letter from the IRS requesting more information. In gathering the information I discovered that TurboTax had inserted line 5 income (Medicare, etc) from my W-2 into line 1a of the 1040. The imported W-2 information looks identical to the W-2 I received from the employer. The 1040 worksheet has the Medicare income listed on line 1 instead of the 1a information.

Have been doing my taxes with desktop TurboTax since the early 90s and have never had this happen before.

Anyone else have this error, or was it a random occurrence?

Re: Incorrect information line 1a 1040

JulieS — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 14:19:38 GMT

Since you imported this W-2 form, you should review the imported information in TurboTax first.

Open the return and select the Federal tab.
Select Wages & Income toward upper left.
Select I'll choose what I work on on the right.
Click Update to the right of Wages and Salaries.
Click Edit to the right of your W2 entry.
Click Continue.
Check your W-2 figures on this page.

Box 1 of Form W-2 ends up on line 1a of Form 1040. If the number you have there is more than what was entered for your W-2, box 1, you may have a situation where an amount has been added to your gross wages.

Here are some other items that go to line 1a and the forms associated with them:

Form 2106 - taxable reimbursement for travel expenses.
Form 2441 - taxable dependent care benefits.
Form 3903 - taxable moving expense reimbursement.
Form 4137 - tip income not included on W-2 or wages not reported on W-2.
Form 8839 - taxable adoption expense reimbursement.
1099-R - certain retirement benefits paid to an employee before retirement age.
Certain income from employee stock plans.

Because you received an IRS letter, you can use the resources of the Audit Support Center to help you understand the notice. Click here for more information.

Re: Incorrect information line 1a 1040

noclue1040 — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 15:29:35 GMT

Thank you for your reply.

The W-2 information that was imported into TurboTax is IDENTICAL to the W-2 I received from my employer and the values are correct. I verified all of the boxes prior to proceeding with the rest of the TurboTax program.

Looking at the 1040 worksheet, I see that line 1 in the WS has the box 5 wages from the W-2 and NOT box 1 wages. This incorrect value also populated line 1a of the 1040. Somehow box 1 did NOT end up in line 1a.

The imported W-2 in the TurboTax file is correct, but somehow the program did not populate the correct information in the 1040 worksheet or 1040 form.

Have been using TT since 1993 and have never had the data fields from a W-2 incorrectly populate the worksheet or final 1040.

My bad for not verifying that line 1a was correct, but after 30 years I assumed that it was correct.

Now that the Federal was filed and accepted and is now in limbo, I cannot go back to my TurboTax file and change line 1a on my 1040 to see how much Federal tax I owe. Not sure if I would have been able to change line 1a on the worksheet prior to my finalizing my 1040.

Will see how long the IRS rejection department takes to let me know how much I owe.