My W-2 Arrived. Now What?

Key takeaways

• Your W-2 shows how much you earned and how much tax was taken out.
• You’ll also find important tax info like 401(k) contributions.
• TurboTax may be able to import information directly from your W-2 to save you time when filing your taxes.

Congrats on your first W-2 job. Now it’s time to make sense of it before filing your taxes for the first time. If you’re looking at those boxes and thinking, “Why are there so many?” — you’re not alone.

A W-2 can feel intimidating at first, but once you understand what each section is telling you, it starts to click. Here’s what helps to know before you dive in.

What’s the purpose of a W-2 form?

A W-2 is also called a Wage and Tax Statement. That’s exactly what it is. It’s a form for your employer to report your compensation (think: salary, hourly earnings, bonuses, commissions) as well as the taxes withheld from your paycheck.

How to read a W-2 form

You already know the form has all. the. boxes. So let’s break it down.

Employee information section

This section is pleasantly self-explanatory: personal information the IRS needs, including your Social Security Number and your employer’s Employer Identification Number.

The numbered boxes: Federal income tax information

The next section outlines your taxable compensation from that employer and how much has been withheld for taxes.

• Box 1: Your total taxable wages subject to federal income tax. This includes hourly earnings, salary, bonuses and the tips you reported to your employer, but not tips distributed by your employer.
• Box 2: The amount of federal income tax withheld. This is the total withholdings across each paycheck for the year.
• Box 3: Wages subject to Social Security tax. For the 2025 tax year, you’ll pay Social Security Tax on up to $176,100 of your wages.
• Box 4: The amount of Social Security tax withheld.
• Box 5: Wages subject to Medicare tax.
• Box 6: The amount of Medicare tax withheld.
• Box 7: Tips that are subject to Social Security Tax.
• Box 8: Tips distributed to you by your employer.

The numbered boxes: State and local tax information

Your W-2 also outlines key info about your state and local tax obligations:

• Box 15: Your state, along with your employer’s state tax ID number.
• Box 16: Your total wages subject to state income tax.
• Box 17: The amount of state income tax withheld.
• Box 18: Your total wages subject to local taxes.
• Box 19: The amount of local income tax withheld.

The numbered boxes: Benefits, checkboxes, and more

Finally, your W-2 outlines other information relevant to your taxes, including certain tax benefits and contributions to tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

• Box 10: Dependent care benefits, like childcare assistance, provided by your employer. This might impact your eligibility for the Child and Dependent Care Credit.
• Box 11: Income from nonqualified compensation plans, such as deferred compensation plans.
• Box 12: Deferred or indirect compensation from other benefits, such as your employer’s 401(k) plan and other workplace benefits. There are several potential entries in this box, each with their own code:
  • D: 401(k) contributions
  • E: 403(b) contributions
  • F: 408(k) SEP
  • G: 457(b) plan
  • DD: Cost of employer health coverage (for informational purposes only)
  • H: 501(c)(18) plan
  • W: Health Savings Account (HSA) contributions.  This number will include the total of contributions made by both you and your employer through your paycheck, if applicable.

• Box 13: Indicates whether you’re a statutory employee, participated in a retirement plan, or received sick pay from a third party, such as an insurance provider.
• Box 14: Finally, this box outlines if you paid into or received other compensation or benefits not indicated in the other boxes. You might see entries in this box if you received tuition assistance from your employer, for example.

We’re here to help you make sense of your W-2

Tax forms are intimidating — but the tax season itself doesn’t have to be. TurboTax makes it easy to import or enter information from your W-2 into your tax return to help you streamline doing your taxes and save you some stress.

Got your W-2? Here’s exactly what to do next—step by step.