W2 - box 1 amount

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
January 23, 2020
1 reply
5 views

On my W2, the box 1 number is somewhat higher than my total earnings shown on my last pay slip of the year. I am accounting for all full year pretax deductions reported on the same pay slip in trying to make the comparison. Why might that be?

xmasbaby0

Level 15

Pay stubs and W-2's seldom match. That is why we tell people not to use pay stubs to prepare tax returns. If there is something specific about your pay stub and W-2 that you do not understand you should talk to your employer.

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

Richard67Author

Level 5

Thank you for your answer! I understood there could be difference but was interested in typical reasons for the difference. For others, who might be interested, I realized in mine that the difference could be explained by Group Term Life, which is a taxable benefit for me. This was also reported on my pay slip, just not where my earnings are, but it is included in box 1 of my W2.