My wife's employer withheld more than the $23,000 limit for her 403B contributions, but the 403B administrator caught it before accepting and sent the funds back. The total overpayment was $1,150.
Her employer did not pay her the money until 2025, as they said it had to be returned to them before they could provide it to us. We received the $1,150 in late January.
Her W2 reflects her actual gross wages for Box 5 Medicare, but her Box 1 amount appears short by exactly $1,150 when factoring in deductions to calculate Box 1. Is that correct? Would her Box 5 Medicare reflect the full gross amount of her pay including the $1,150 that was not paid until 2025, but the Box 1 would exclude the $1,150 of overpayment in transit? Note the retirement contributions are reflected correctly at the annual maximum of $23,000, without an overpayment.
The retirement plan contributions would not be deductible from her Medicare wages, so that amount appears correct since you said it equals her gross wages. The box 1 amount should be the Medicare wages minus the allowable contributions to the retirement plan, which appear to be $23,000 in this case, assuming there wasn't anything else that affects the taxable wages in box 1.