Received two W2's

[AdiKaleb]

My wife worked for a small non-profit organization registered to a home office in New York. All the employess for this non-profit work from their homes. She received two W2's - one for New York and one for MA (the State we reside in) . The W2 with NY state tax has the low right portion of the W2 intentionally left blank.  The other W2 includes MA state tax as well as a total state tax in box 17 to the left of the text that reads "FOLD AND DETACH HERE." Which one should I use for filing purposes?

[AmandaR1 · Accepted solution]

First, it sounds like one of the W-2s only reports the 2nd state info, which is commonly how companies report this.  In this case, you can add the second state reporting to the main W-2 entry (see instructions below). 

If NY only has info in the state information boxes and not in box 17 withholding, then you don't need to enter this information at all. Since your wife didn't work in or live in NY, there's no requirement for her to file state taxes there. However, if they were withholding for box 17, you can try to report it for a refund and I'd talk to the employer to stop withholding.

To add the second state:

1. Log in and click Take me to my return
2. Click Federal Taxes and then Wages & Income  (If you have the blue button 'Check for more income', click it and then click 'Skip to see all income')
3. Next scroll down to Wages & Salaries and click Show more
4. Click Revisit next Wages & Salaries
5. Next, you'll be on a summary screen of all W-2s entered. Click Edit next to the applicable W-2 and you'll see all of your entries. Scroll down to State & Local Taxes and click + Add another row (see screenshot attached below).

If you have two W-2s, with duplicated information in box 1-6, then you'll need to go back to the employer because this is incorrect. You would technically need to report both, which would correctly double your income. 

[AdiKaleb]

Thank you for the detailed reply. Both W-2s have duplicate information in box 1-6 which incorrectly doubled the income. Moreover, there is NY state withholding in box 17 even though the NY state withholding is set to zero in the W-4.

[AmandaR1]

Ok, then first, I would discuss this with the employer before filing and you'll need to get that corrected (copies are submitted to the IRS of both forms). If you completed a W-2 for the state with "zero allowances(?)" that would actually be the maximum withholding. You shouldn't have completed a W-4 at all if she doesn't live in or work in the state. Where the company is located is irrelevant.

[AdiKaleb]

Thank you, I was reading the NY state withholding from the W-2 Employee W-4 profile. A W-4 was never completed for NY state.

[AmandaR1]

Ok perfect, well since they completed double W-2s - it sounds like they've made some mistakes. You really just want to make sure the 2nd W-2 (NY) was a mistake and not submitted to the IRS.