Why's my 457b not showing as 'income that you're taxed on was reduced by' section of Deductions & Credits like my wife's 401(k)? Our Fed refund dropped a lot this year.

[angelawelt]

We are wondering if the 457b not showing up in this section indicates that it was counted as taxable income, and accounts for the significantly lower Federal refund. My contribution is marked properly in the W2 form.

[KeshaH]

If you'd like, we can look at your return and see exactly what you see to  help come to a resolution. The return will be scrubbed and won't include any of your personal details.

If you're using TurboTax Online:

Once you're logged in to your account,

- on the left hand panel, click on Tax Tools and then choose Tools

- on the pop up window, select Share my file with Agent

- you'll see a message saying you'll give us a copy of your tax return. Your personal information will be changed so we can't see any private information.

- click okay and you'll get another message with a token

If you're using TurboTax Desktop:

• Click on Online in the top menu of TurboTax Desktop for Windows
• Select 'Send Tax File to Agent'
• Write down or send an image of your token number and state then place in this issue.
• We can then review your exact scenario for a solution

Please reply to this message with your token so that we can further assist you. Let us know all other states, if any, that are included on the return.

[angelawelt]

Hi,

Our token is 1289457.

We are married, filing jointly with all income from Pennsylvania.

Our question is:

In deductions and credits it says: "The income you're taxed on was reduced by $23,000 for my spouses 401(k), but we are filing jointly and my 457(b) should also show an additional $23,000. We both maxed our our pre-tax contributions in this tax year and they accurately are reflected on our W-2.  Why is it not?  Our Federal Tax refund dropped from $2,880 (2023 tax year) to $175 (2024 tax year), so we are concerned this might be why it dropped.

[dmertz]

Your employer has already excluded from the amount of wages reported in box 1 of your W-2 the amount of your elective deferrals to the 457(b) reported with code G in box 12 of your W-2.  You do not get to deduct is again on your tax return since that amount of your wages was never included in taxable income to begin with.  the same goes for your wife's 401(k) contributions reported with code D in box 12 of her W-2.

Enter amounts shown in box 12 of your W-2 only in box 12 of TurboTax's W-2 form, nowhere else in TurboTax.  The same goes for your wife's 401(k) elective deferrals.  Nothing about the 457(b) or the 401(k) is to be entered under Deductions & Credits.