Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement

How to fill out Form W-2 for 2026

Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, reports what an employer paid an employee during the year and the taxes withheld. This guide follows the 2026 form, used for wages paid in calendar year 2026.

Filling out a W-2 for wages paid in 2025? Use the W-2 Form 2025 page, which has the 2025 form and the 2025 limits.

New on the 2026 form: box 14 is split into box 14a (Other, for what box 14 held before) and box 14b (Treasury Tipped Occupation Code(s), used when cash tips are reported in box 12 with code TP).

Step 1: Employer and employee information

On the left side enter the employee's social security number (box a), your EIN (box b), your name and address (box c), an optional control number (box d) and the employee's name and address (boxes e and f).

Step 2: Wages and tips (boxes 1, 3, 5 and 7)

Box 1. Total taxable wages, tips and other compensation paid during the year. Do not include pre-tax elective deferrals such as pre-tax employee contributions to a 401(k) or 403(b) plan. Follow the IRS Box 1 instructions for exceptions. Designated Roth contributions are different: they are reported in boxes 1, 3 and 5.

Box 3. Social security wages, not including tips. Pre-tax elective deferrals shown in box 12 with codes D, E, F, G or S are reported in box 3 even though they are left out of box 1. For 2026 the total of boxes 3 and 7 cannot exceed $184,500, the 2026 social security wage base.

Box 5. Enter the employee's Medicare wages and tips. There is no wage base limit for Medicare tax.

Box 7. Tips the employee reported to you. Report all tips in box 1 as well, and include the box 7 tips in box 5.

Step 3: Taxes withheld (boxes 2, 4 and 6)

Box 2. The total federal income tax withheld from the employee's wages for the year.

Box 4. The employee's social security tax withheld, not your share. For 2026 it should not exceed $11,439 ($184,500 x 6.2%).

Box 6. The employee's Medicare tax withheld, including any Additional Medicare Tax, not your share. Medicare tax is withheld at 1.45%. An employer must also withhold a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages paid to an employee in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year.

Step 4: Boxes 11 to 14

Box 11. Distributions to the employee from a nonqualified plan or a nongovernmental section 457(b) plan. These distributions are also reported in box 1. The SSA uses box 11 to tell whether part of the wages was earned in a prior year. Special rules apply when distributions and nonqualified-plan deferrals reportable in boxes 3 or 5 occur in the same year. Follow the full IRS Box 11 instructions rather than entering every deferred-compensation amount here.

Box 12. Coded amounts. For example, code D shows elective deferrals under a section 401(k) plan.

Box 13. Check "Statutory employee" for statutory employees whose earnings are subject to social security and Medicare taxes but not to federal income tax withholding; do not check it for common-law employees. Check "Retirement plan" if the employee was an active participant in a listed retirement plan, such as a 401(k) plan, for any part of the year.

Boxes 14a and 14b. Box 14a is for other information. Box 14b is for the Treasury Tipped Occupation Code(s) when cash tips are reported in box 12 with code TP.

Step 5: State and local taxes

If your state or locality requires income tax withholding, report it in boxes 15 through 20. Check the rules of your jurisdiction.

Form W-2 deadlines for the 2026 form

To employees. Furnish Copies B, C and 2 by February 1, 2027. The requirement is met if the form is properly addressed and mailed on or before that date.

To the SSA. File Copy A with Form W-3 by February 1, 2027, on paper or electronically. If you e-file, you do not send a Form W-3.

What you can print and what you cannot

Copy B and the other employee copies can be filled in, printed and given to employees. Copy A downloaded from IRS.gov is for information only. Do not print and file that copy with the SSA. Use e-filing, official red-ink forms or approved substitute versions.

The fillable form on this page contains Copy 1, Copy B, Copy C, Copy 2 and Copy D. It does not include Copy A.

To file Copy A, e-file through the SSA's Business Services Online, which offers free W-2 Online fill-in forms for up to 50 Forms W-2 at a time, or order the official scannable forms from the IRS. If you must file at least 10 information returns in the calendar year, counting Forms W-2 together with other information returns, you must e-file all of your Forms W-2.

Worked examples for 2026

These examples illustrate the listed boxes only. They are not complete sample returns and do not cover every reporting requirement.

Example 1: wages and tips. In 2026 Sarah was paid $170,000 in wages and reported $2,000 in tips. Federal income tax withheld was $35,000.

• Box 1: 172,000.00 (wages plus tips)
• Box 2: 35,000.00
• Box 3: 170,000.00
• Box 7: 2,000.00 (boxes 3 and 7 total 172,000.00, under the $184,500 wage base)
• Box 4: 10,664.00 (6.2% of 172,000.00)
• Box 5: 172,000.00
• Box 6: 2,494.00 (1.45% of 172,000.00)

Example 2: pre-tax 401(k) deferral and the wage base. In 2026 Jane was paid $190,000 and made a $5,000 pre-tax elective deferral to her employer's traditional 401(k) plan. Assume no other wage adjustments or tips.

• Box 1: 185,000.00 (the $5,000 deferral is left out)
• Box 3: 184,500.00 (the deferral counts here, and the 2026 wage base caps the box)
• Box 4: 11,439.00 (6.2% of 184,500.00)
• Box 5: 190,000.00 (no wage base limit)
• Box 6: 2,755.00 (1.45% of 190,000.00; no Additional Medicare Tax because wages did not exceed $200,000)
• Box 12: code D, 5,000.00
• Box 13: "Retirement plan" checked