Hello,


I am a non-resident alien changing status from OPT to H1B in Oct 2013 (and do not want to choose first year election). In the first half of 2013, on OPT I had asked my employer to exempt my income from taxes since US taxes may not be applicable if I left in few days. However, once I was certain I will be in US, I asked my employed to deduct all applicable taxes and I also paid up the taxes that were due in the past months.

Now, I have received the W-2 forms from my Employer and my Reported W2 wages have been way understated compared to my gross pay (excludes salary of first few months). The withheld taxes information (in box 2) is correct. I do not owe any federal tax (will receive a small refund) but the issue is incorrect (lower) federal wages in box 1 of W2.

My employer does not agree that my W2 needs to be corrected. What should I do?

Please help.

FDP,

I would have to SEE the W-2 to be sure, but it is likely your boss is correct. I see W-2s like this all the time in my line of work.

The wages listed in Box #1 represent what you earned in from 1 January to 31 December 2013.

The wages listed in Boxes #3 and #5 SHOULD represent what you earned from 1 October to 31 December 2013, because those are the dates you become liable to pay FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes.

Doing the math associated with the two time periods specified above is grade school stuff, so get out a calculator and check if the W-2 is right.

Hello,

Let me provide more information:

1) I have received 2 W2s from my employer - one for the period Jan 1 - Sep 30th and other for Oct 1 - Dec 31st. The second W2 is correct (all one to six boxes).
2) In first W2, My gross pay from Jan 1, 2013 to Sep 30, 2013 is $55K. Of this, $33K were earned in first 6 months and the federal tax was withheld in the subsequent months. In box 1, the amount is $22K; boxes 3 and 5 are zero dollars (since I was on OPT). The tax withheld in box 2 is correct.
Issue is box 1 should have $55K and not $22K.

Given the current W2s, I am eligible for a big refund, but that would not be correct since my income is not stated correctly in W2.

Based on your adjusted scenario, the W-2 is CLEARLY wrong; you need to show this to your boss by showing your pay stubs for the first six months.

Thank you Atlanta Tax Expert,

One final question -

I no longer work for this vendor (I directly work for the end client now). My vendor is not willing to accept that W2 is incorrect (as per them, ADP has confirmed the W2 is correct, so they will not change anything). They do not understand that the pay that was "exempted" early on in the year is no longer exempted from Federal tax.

I am planning to file my tax return correctly (with my total gross pay). I am planning to send the Earnings summary (from ADP) attached to my W-2 (which shows gross pay, Exempt wages and reported W-2 wages) along with W2 Copy B to indicate my correct gross pay to IRS.

Is there anything else I can do about this? Please advise.

No, you are doing what should be done.