Misplaced W2 by TT

[xmasbaby0]

TurboTax does not have, nor did TT ever have, your W-2.   W-2's come from employers.   Did you lose your W-2 after preparing your tax return, or are you in need of obtaining it from your employer?

TurboTax does not have your W-2.   W-2’s come from employers.  There is not a federal or national website that provides W-2’s.   If your employer is partnered with TurboTax to allow the W-2 data to be imported into the software you can do that---but you need the actual W-2 so that you can enter the EIN and the amount from box 1 to import the other data from the W-2---which just saves you the little bit of keying in of the other information.

Every 2024 W-2 that you received must be reported on your 2024 tax return, even if they are for small amounts.  Remember that each one of those W-2’s has your Social Security number on it, and that income was reported to the IRS by the employer.  You do not want trouble with the IRS for under-reporting your income or have your refund delayed by having missing income.

ALL of your W-2’s must be entered on the SAME tax return.  

Go to Federal>Wages & Income to enter a W-2.

After you enter the first one, you click Add Another W-2.

W-2's come from your employer, and they have until January 31 to issue it.  Some employers allow you to import the W-2 through the software, but for security reasons you still need information from the actual W-2 to import it. Some employers have payroll sites that will have your W-2. You might need to phone, text, drop in, email and/or snail mail an old employer to make sure they know where to send your W-2.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-forms/get-copy-w-2/L8FTim9MO_US_en_U...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/import-export-data-files/import-enter-w-...

And….SAVE YOUR OWN W-2!  TURBOTAX DOES NOT SAVE IT FOR YOU.  TurboTax will not have a copy of it in your account and will not have an image even if you snapped a photo or imported it.  It is up to you to save it for your own records as stated on the back of the W-2. 

If you prepared your return and lost your W-2, you can find the information from the W-2 in the pdf of the return, in the worksheets.  But TT does not have a copy or an image of the actual W-2.   Only the information you entered will be there in the worksheets.

You can get a wage and income transcript from the IRS:  It will not show the actual W-2, 1099’s, etc, but will show the income information the IRS received.  It will not, however, show your state information. It will only show the federal information.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript

Or you can pay the IRS $30 for an actual copy of your tax return which will include copies of your W-2’s     

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506.pdf 

[rjs]

See the replies to your other, more detailed, post about your W-2.

[NanaNancy]

I understand all of what you said; sorry I hit send before I really asked my question in detail.

I have been doing my taxes with TT for more than 20 years and while not a CPA, do understand the lay of the land for my sources of funds and expenditures, and as well I had 30 years in the IT industry so am not uncomfortable with computing.  But in 2024 I find I have had to dig further than ever before into forms and line items and what TT sw does to my input, ie, where it goes on the forms.  

An IRS agent said the reason my return, efiled in April on time, hasn't been closed and my refund sent it that they don't have the W2s for me and my husband.  But the 2 W-2s were captured in income under other income on Schedule 1, Part 1, line 8t.  (The rest of our income is in 1099s.)  So the top line income looks right but it isn't on the primary W2 line on teh 1040, like it used to be!   This is the only thing I can see which looks different from prior returns.  I definitely did say it was a non qualified plan on the inputting. 

Any ideas?  Thanks! NanaNancy

[NanaNancy]

I apologize; I hit send before I explained the problem. As along time users of TT Premier (and we are a retired senior executive couple from IBM), I understand what you said and agree.  Thank you for your thorough explanation.  However, the problem I am trying to address is for the first time in many years, (TY 2024) our W-2s did not appear on form 1040 in the first line called W-2.  Instead they came in on Schedule 1 Part 1, line 8t.  These are 2 non qualified plans which we received in monthly amounts all year, for years... On the W-2s themselves, line 11 has the amount as well as in line 1, and nothing is checked in line 12...

Is this correct?  It's the only thing i can find that is unusual in my filed return.  Yet I have not yet gotten a return and an IRS agent assured me that the IRS must not have a copy of our W-2s and we should have our employer resend to the SSA for reprocessing to the IRS.  

I'd appreciate any suggestions you have as to what to do about this; I'd really like my refund!

Thank you. Nancy aka NanaNancy

PS I am not used to using this system and sent another new question when I didn't see this could be replied too.  Happily most years TT works fine and i don't need help.  Anyway, this is the same as that question so if you see it you can delete it!

[rjs · Accepted solution]

@NanaNancy 

Please note that, when multiple people have posted in a thread, we cannot tell who you are replying to unless you indicate it in your reply.

Your situation is very confusing and hard to follow, not least because you now have information scattered in three different threads. You also seem to have more than one problem. I am going to try to narrow it down and concentrate on one problem.

You said:

"However, the problem I am trying to address is for the first time in many years, (TY 2024) our W-2s did not appear on form 1040 in the first line called W-2. Instead they came in on Schedule 1 Part 1, line 8t."

You gave some information about your 2024 W-2, which I will ask you to verify, but you have not said anything about your W-2s for previous years. The behavior of TurboTax for 2024 is the same as for 2023, so if there is a difference in how your W-2 is reported for those two years, I have to assume that either there is something different on the W-2, or you entered something differently.

If I understand correctly, on your 2024 W-2 you have the same amount in box 1 and box 11. Is that correct? You also said "nothing is checked in line 12." But box 12 on the W-2 does not have checkboxes. Do you mean that box 12 has no entries, it's blank?

If W-2 boxes 1 and 11 have the same amount, the correct place for that amount to be reported is Schedule 1 line 8t, and that is where you say it is reported. So now the question is why it was not reported the same way for 2023.

Did your 2023 W-2 have the same amount in boxes 1 and 11? If box 11 was blank, or if you did not enter the amount in box 11, that would explain why it appeared on Form 1040 line 1a and not on Schedule 1 line 8t. If there is an amount in box 11, after you enter the W-2 TurboTax asks whether the amount in box 11 is money you took out of your nonqualified plan. (Box 11 can be money you took out of the plan, or that you contributed to the plan.) You said you have been receiving payments from the plan, so you should have answered Yes, that it is money you took out of the plan. You would then have to enter the amount again for your state. Then it would go to Schedule 1 line 8t. If you answered No, that it was money you contributed to the plan, or if you skipped the question, then the amount would go to Form 1040 line 1a. (I assume that's what you mean by "the first line called W-2." Line 1a says "Total amount from Form(s) W-2, box 1.")

As I said, what I have described is the same in both 2023 TurboTax and 2024 TurboTax, so if there is a difference in the results for those two years it has to be because the W-2s were different, or because you entered something differently or you answered the question about box 11 differently.

If you have further questions, please tell us whether you used TurboTax Online or the desktop TurboTax software for each year.

[NanaNancy]

I do apologize for the many messages.  I was trying to use an iphone and the reply button simply doesn't show on it after your message.  I realize now I should always be on my PC 

Thank you for trying to unscramble my questions/notes situation.  I'll answer your questions here: In 2023 the W-2s were exactly the same as they were for 2024.  Ditto 2022.  These are for a retirement program, non-qualified, that is paid monthly every year to each of us.  Same format, same numbers, every year for years.  

For 2022, 2023 and 2024 the W-2 docs look identical.  For 2022 and 2023 TTPremier showed the funds from the 2 W-2s as going into the 1040 and not into Schedule 1.  For 2024 they did not go into the 1040 but did show up on 8t on Schedule 1.

Re box "12" on the W-2 itself, that was a typo on my part.  I do apologize.  It is box 13.  12 has nothing as you point out, but none of the 3 boxes on box 13 are checked.  And yes, box 1 and box 11 are the same numbers on all W-2s.  In fact, when I look back at tax year 2017 and 2013, things were just the same.  The numbers do not change, ie no cost of living adjustment on this plan.  The W-2s all look the same (but for the number that was federal tax withheld, because of course rates fluctuated over the 24 years I have been retired.)  They also all say "IBM Non-Qualified Pension Plan"

As to your entry question, I have gone over it multiple times and will try again.  Yes, the money I took out of it is what I answer as it comes in every month.  

So from your answer, all the prior years the information has been reported incorrectly on the W-2 or on the forms, assuming I entered everything right of course? or just incorrectly placed into the forms? 

Could it have been because I filed efile and so didn't send in the W-2 as a separate piece of paper? Usually I send in documents.  That is the only thing I changed that I know of.

I am using the desktop version on a PC Windows 11 or whatever was current in the past two decades.  I 

I do appreciate your hearing me out and giving me advice.  I always need to amend my filing as I have late K-1s, but I don't want to do this until I learn from the IRS why they have not yet sent me my refund.

Again, the money is in my total income on the return, it just doesn't show up on the line 1a of 1040 in the return for TY2024, it does show up in Schedule 1, so the actual values should be the same.  When compared to last year's return it looks appropriate... 

Thank you again, rjs!   I will try to not reply except on my PC should you or anyone else reply back.

[rjs]

@NanaNancy 

Based on what you have said, the income is reported correctly on your 2024 tax return, and incorrectly for 2022 and 2023. But the IRS only added line 8t to Schedule 1 for 2022 and later. Prior to 2022 there was no separate line for distributions from a nonqualified plan, so for 2021 and earlier, including the box 11 amount in the W-2 wages on Form 1040 was correct.

The processing for W-2 box 11 in TurboTax is essentially the same for 2022, 2023, and 2024, so if the income is shown in different places on the tax returns for those three years, I have to assume that it's because you did something different. Just as a guess, maybe after so many years of not having to do anything special with box 11, you misread or misunderstood the new question that appeared for 2022, and answered it incorrectly for 2022 and 2023.

It sounds like the W-2s themselves were correct all along. E-filing, and not sending the paper W-2s, would not have made any difference.

[NanaNancy]

Thanks, RJS for the quick reply.  So what do I do now? Yes, I will dig again but am not about to go amend prior years.  Fidelity sends these W-2s and it's hard to believe they don't follow the tax code.  I don't believe this affects the final number.   However I still have no 2024 refund and no communications from the IRS after two letters that each said oh we need 60 more days to finish your return.  I see there is another epistle coming tomorrow or the next day (Informed Delivery) so will wait for that.  I bet it says the IRS needs another 60 days. 

I see that someone else commented besides you.  If i read and reply to him is that confusing?

I will wait to do so until I hear from you.

Nancy (aka NanaNancy

[rjs · Accepted solution]

"So what do I do now?"

You don't do anything. It seems that your 2024 tax return is correct. There does not seem to be any need to amend the prior years.

"Fidelity sends these W-2s and it's hard to believe they don't follow the tax code."

Based on what you have said, it seems that the W-2s are correct.

"I see that someone else commented besides you. If i read and reply to him is that confusing?"

It's not confusing as long as you say who you are replying to. The only other person who replied in this thread is xmasbaby0, who is "her," not "him."

[NanaNancy]

Thank you, rjs.  I had thought there was another person but if not, I do appreciate your confirmation that this seems like it was done properly.  (I think I replied to the woman way earlier)

And then yesterday I received another letter from IRS (#3) saying they need 60 more days! You may be familiar with these form letters…I have heard of others getting them for TY2024.  Effect of losing so many employees maybe?  I guess i will wait 60 more days…and of course will double check my entries again.  

I do need to amend the return but would really like to get this one closed out before I do the amendment.

Best, NanaNancy