Employee is a TX School Teacher. Box 12a on W-2 has code DD, but not dollar amounts anywhere.

[Gerry1]

Box 13 has an "x" in retirement plan. Box 14 has the following data: 14A - TRS 3374.81.

Jane (employee) is required to have monthly deductions for TRS Member Contribution with Pre-Tax funds. That annual total amount is $3374.81 for 2016 according to December paycheck stub. This deduction is for retirement benefits, a plan administered as a qualified government retirement plan under provisions of Section 401(a) of IRS Code of 1986, according to the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) of Texas Benefits Handbook dated December 2015

Jane is required to have monthly deductions for TRS-Care Member Contributions with money that is not Pre-Taxed. The annual total for 2016 is $297.62 according to December paycheck stub. This TRS-Care Member deduction is for the Health Benefit Program for eligible retirees and their dependents (Health Insurance).

Jane does pay Medicare Tax but not Social Security due to how Texas law has designed the retirement plan for school teachers.

Jane is not retired and has been working as teacher for less than 4 years. Jane has never enrolled into any health coverage plan with employer because she is covered under her spouse, Tim.

Health coverage for the entire family is provided by through Tim (spouse) under Tricare Prime (Tim is retired military).

How are we supposed to enter a dollar amount on TurboTax for Box 12 (or Box 12a) when there is not a dollar amount?

Can we claim/deduct the $297.62 since Jane is required to have it deducted from her pay check with after tax dollars?

[Bsch4477 · Accepted solution]

The DD code is the amount that your employer spent for health insurance.  In any event, it does not affect your tax liability so just leave the amount blank.  Since your retirement contributions are not voluntary, but required, you cannot use the $3375 amount for retirement credit.  However, the $298 for health benefit is deductible, if you itemize, as a medical deduction on Sch A but you can only deduct an amount of medical expense greater than 10% of your AGI.