And nothing in box 17? Then leave 15-17 BLANK. Not zero and not spaces. Just BLANK.
17 has a number listed in it that matches with taxes paid on of two other W2s sent to me.
Treat all of the W2 as if they are one, and ignore that third one. It is a summary of the first two and does not need to be entered at all unless it shows a separate (not a totaled) local amount.
Sometimes employers send several pages of a w2, especially when they have varying local tax amounts. Find the copy that has the state listed in box 15, and enter that information only. Then, enter the other box 18, 19, and 20 amounts as additional lines. Treat all copies as one w-2.
So should I enter the information that states "TOTAL STATE"?
No. Keep that copy for your records. In essence, it is a duplicate copy of the same W-2
So what if the info in boxes 1-14 on the “total state” w-2 is different from that on the copy with the state and employer id?
I try to leave box 15 blank but Turbotax continue to say to review and re-input info into box 15
@Coldfox55 What state are you in? Is there an amount in box 17? If not then leave boxes 15,16 & 17 blank. And no spaces, just blank.
I have something very similar. I live in NJ and worked in NJ and NY. This W-2 was for NY income. My company sent me a W2 form that repeats 6 times.
The first two copies have a blank state box for 15 and list "total state" in the Employer’s state ID no. There is a dollar amount in box 17 only.
The last four copies have "NJ" in the state box and an actual Employer’s state ID no listed. Box 17 is empty but there is a number in box 16.
I am guessing the amount in box 17 for the "total state" is for NY and box 16 is for NJ. Would I enter both of these amounts into TurboTax?
@DocFoody As I mentioned above in previous posts in this thread, what you are seeing is common practice with payroll reporting. Having said that, you may be missing some key details on the W2, so hopefully these comments are helpful.
Do not input any of the TOTAL STATE lines. That is informational only and won't be able to e-file.
Look very carefully for the New York information. You may have overlooked it, but there should be a copy or lines that have NY in Box 15 (with a corresponding State ID number; if none, then the EIN may be used), an amount in Box 16 (likely the same as Box 1), an amount in Box 17 (New York tax withheld), and possibly amounts in boxes 18, 19, and a location in Box 20 if either NYC tax was (mistakenly) withheld, or you worked in Yonkers and Yonkers tax was withheld. You will want to input this on one line.
Then, you want to input your NJ tax information on a second state line on the W2 entries page.
See if you can identify all of this information on your W2. If you cannot, see if you received the entire copy of your W2 or if you are missing a page with the NY information.
Whether you have or not the remaining information on your W2, please comment here again once you've identified everything. With the details you provide on your state situation, there's more that will need to be done to get your state returns correct.
Thanks DanielV01,
You are correct. There is a section with NY as well. There are six W2's. The first two have "total state" for box 15 and then a state income tax in box 17 (box 16, 18, 19, and 20 are blank). The last two W2s list NY in box 15, a state wages in box 16, and a state income tax in box 17 (this number matches the "total state" income tax in box 17 from the first two W2s).
This all makes sense to me. It is the middle two W2s that are confusing me now. The middle two W2s list NJ in box 15 and a blank box 17 (which I guess is since I only paid income tax to NY and this will be credited to my NJ income tax after filing?). In these middle two W2s, there is an amount in box 16 that does not match box 16 in the last two W2s with NY listed. I don't understand where this number in NJ box 16 came from and if I need to list both the NY box 16 and NJ box 16 when entering the information.