The law says
For purposes of this section, the term “qualified overtime" means overtime compensation paid to an individual required under section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 that is in excess of the regular rate (as used in such section) at which such individual is employed.
"An exempt employee is a worker who is not entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) because they typically perform executive, administrative, or professional duties and are paid on a salary basis above a certain threshold. To qualify as exempt, employees must meet specific criteria regarding their job responsibilities and salary level."
That means that if you are considered exempt from FLSA, and your employer pays you overtime as a benefit by contract or policy but it is not required by FLSA, then your overtime does not qualify.
If you are a non-exempt employee, then:
Also, "overtime" is the extra portion (the half-time in time-and-a-half) if you work more than 40 hours in a week. So for an hourly worker making, let's say, $10/hour who works 45 hours and gets paid $15 for the overtime, the deductible part is $5/hour x 5 hours of overtime.
Since it is not reported on the W-2 for 2025, you will have to calculate it yourself.
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-tax-deductions-for-working-americans-and-sen...
