topic Excess social security tax in Deductions & credits

Excess social security tax

dkeller47201 — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:28:33 GMT

When I am going to file it is saying I paid excess social security tax but when I go through my 4 W2's the numbers are correct when multiplied by 0.062 anyone know what to do? I am trying to free file and it keeps wanting me to upgrade because of this. Thanks!

Re: Excess social security tax

JosephS1 — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 19:30:22 GMT

If the amount of Social Security and/or Medicare Tax withheld does not exactly calculate to the percentages of 6.2 and 1.45%, respectfully, you will receive this message. I have seen this message on differences as little as $0.05.

If the difference is indeed pennies, and you have not imported your W-2's, click on each W-2 that is giving you the error and manually overwrite the amount withheld to correspond to the correct percentage. Be sure to check both the social security withholding and the medicare withholding. If you have imported your W-2's and the withholding boxes are blocked, you will need to delete the problem W-2 or W-2s and manually re-enter to correct what the system believes to be an error.

@dkeller47201

Re: Excess social security tax

VolvoGirl — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 19:36:09 GMT

Yes, if you have more than 1 employer and the total of all box 4 is more than $9,114.00 you get the excess back on your tax return. If you are married it is for each spouse separately, so make sure to enter each W2 under the right person.

For 2022 the max for Social Security is $9,114.00 on $147,000 of wages (147,000 x 6.2%). Check 1040 Schedule 3 line 11 which goes to 1040 line 31.

Or go to the IRS Free File programs

Free File: Do your Federal Taxes for Free | Internal Revenue Service

Re: Excess social security tax

Tdc009 — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 20:42:22 GMT

The withholding is no where near over that

Re: Excess social security tax

VolvoGirl — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 20:44:37 GMT

Then delete the W2s and re enter them. That usually clears something out. Or report back with the amounts in box 3 & 4.

Re: Excess social security tax

dkeller47201 — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 22:02:32 GMT

Re: Excess social security tax

dkeller47201 — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 22:12:35 GMT

It looks like overpaid by 61 cents between the 4 W2's

Re: Excess social security tax

pmtnwest — Sat, 04 Mar 2023 18:23:01 GMT

Yeah, thanks NOT turbotax. I opened TT and it loaded the latest update and I entered my W2. I got the SS overpayment screen. Turns out that the TT update zeroed out some fields in my wife's W2 that I'd entered properly a while back. Could I edit them - NO. I had to delete it and re-enter it. I entered them manually both times.

Re: Excess social security tax

brattonbkeeping — Sun, 02 Apr 2023 21:22:06 GMT

My employer split the company, but only issued one W2. Turbo Tax will not let me e-file because I don't have 2 W-2's

Re: Excess social security tax

Cynthiad66 — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 17:03:41 GMT

Yes, you can get excess Social Security tax refunded.

The procedure depends on whether the excess withholdings were caused by multiple employers exceeding the maximum or too much being withheld by a single employer.

Select your situation for more info.

Because your employer chose to issue as one employer you will need to use the Single employer process below.

Multiple employers

For tax year 2022, you'll have excess Social Security withholdings if the sum of multiple employers' withholdings exceeds $9,114.00 per taxpayer.

You don't need to take any action. We'll automatically add the excess to your federal refund or subtract it from federal taxes you owe, whichever applies.

The excess will appear as a tax credit on Line 11 of your Form 1040, Schedule 3.

Single employer

Your employer is supposed to withhold 6.2% of your Social Security Wages (the Box 3 amount on your W-2), up to a maximum of $9,114.00 per taxpayer for tax year 2022.

If one employer withheld too much Social Security tax, you won't be able to take a credit for the excess on your tax return.

(TurboTax determines this by looking at your employer's EIN. In unusual cases where the employer changed their EIN during the tax year, an excess withholding credit can be taken as explained in "Multiple employers," above.)

So, if your employer withheld too much, contact them and ask for:

A refund for the excess amount, and
A corrected W-2 (also called a W-2c) which shows the correct Box 3 and Box 4 amounts.

Do not file with excess withholdings on your return, as you may be subjected to penalties and interest.

What if my employer can't—or won't—cooperate?

You can correct the Box 4 amount yourself before filing. Simply multiply the amount in Box 3 by a factor of 0.062 and enter that amount or 9,114.00 (whichever is less) in Box 4.

To get a refund for the excess withholding, fill out IRS Form 843: Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement according to the Form 843 Instructions and mail it in separately. Make a copy to keep with your tax return paperwork.

@brattonbkeeping

Re: Excess social security tax

echevjo — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 01:53:41 GMT

While doing my 2022 federal taxes, I received warning I may have paid excess Soc Sec tax (above 6.2%). When I do the math (box 3: W-2 SS wages times 6.2%) this is NOT the case.

Is this a TT bug? How do I report this ?

Re: Excess social security tax

DawnC — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 02:09:05 GMT

The maximum social security you pay per year is $9,114.00 (for 2022). Are you saying that the total SS tax paid from all W-2s is less than $9114? The message you see is taking into account all of the W-2s you have entered, not just that one. If the EIN numbers are the same on different W-2s, TurboTax considers that the same employer.

How do I get the excess SS tax paid refunded? @echevjo

Re: Excess social security tax

VolvoGirl — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 02:20:05 GMT

That message is for 1 employer. Can you post the amounts in boxes 3&4 for each W2? Try leaving off the cents in box 4.

Re: Excess social security tax

echevjo — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 02:30:19 GMT

Thanks. I updated W-2 entries to to exact amounts (no rounding). Apparently TT will send this excess SS message if the totals don't exactly match. Once I made the change, I no longer see the excess SS message.