my box 16 state wages are not pretax?

[chihosays]

hi. i have two W2s (only difference is the state boxes) live in NJ, work in NY.

i have a lot of pretax stuff like FSA, pretax transit, etc.

box 1 shows the correct taxable amount. for the NJ one, in box 16 it shows my ENTIRE salary without pretax.

shouldn't it be the same as box 1 or close to it?

the other W2 (NY) shows the pretax salary in box 16.

[Opus 17]

New Jersey doesn’t follow all the same rules.  Some items that can be pre-tax on federal are not pre-tax in New Jersey. This is also true for some items in California.  I think @SweetieJean has written about NJ issues before.  

[chihosays]

thanks for the reply. so NJ has basically no allowance for pretax deductions like insurance, health, etc?

my NY portion (where I work, not live) basically matches my Box 1 which has significant pretax.

@SweetieJean 

[BillM223 · Accepted solution]

Opus is right that New Jersey does not allow a number of deductions that the federal return does. It does not allow deductions for most retirement plans except for the most common one - the 401(k).

New Jersey also does not permit HSA contributions to be deducted, nor premiums for health insurance.

[chihosays]

truly appreciate the help.