Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Boxes 10 to 20 on Form W-2 hold dependent care benefits, nonqualified plan amounts, the box 12 codes, three checkboxes, an open box 14 for employer notes, and the state and local tax boxes. For box 10 the form says “Any amount over your employer’s plan limit is also included in box 1”. Find your box in the table below and open its page.
The boxes in one table
Each row links to the page that reads that box. The right column is a line from the Form W-2 text or from the IRS general instructions for the box. Box 12 is covered by the box 12 codes guide and the box 12 versus box 1 guide.
| Page | What the form says |
|---|---|
| W-2 box 10 | “This amount includes the total dependent care benefits that your employer paid to you or incurred on your behalf” |
| W-2 box 11 | “reported in box 1 if it is a distribution made to you from a nonqualified deferred compensation or nongovernmental section 457(b) plan” |
| W-2 box 12 codes | “The following list explains the codes shown in box 12” |
| W-2 box 12 vs box 1 | “information only, not included in box 1, 3, or 5” |
| W-2 box 13, statutory employee | “Check this box for statutory employees whose earnings are subject to social security and Medicare taxes but not subject to federal income tax withholding” |
| W-2 box 13, retirement plan | “special limits may apply to the amount of traditional IRA contributions you may deduct” |
| W-2 box 13, third-party sick pay | “Check this box only if you are a third-party sick pay payer” |
| W-2 box 14 | “Employers may use this box to report information such as state disability insurance taxes withheld, union dues, uniform payments” |
| W-2 boxes 15 to 17 | “Enter the two-letter abbreviation for the name of the state” |
| W-2 boxes 18 to 20 | “can be used to report wages and taxes for two states and two localities” |
Which boxes carry money and which do not
Box 10 is an amount: “the total dependent care benefits”. Box 11 is also an amount, and the form says it is “reported in box 1 if it is a distribution made to you from a nonqualified deferred compensation” plan. Box 12 pairs a letter code with an amount, as the code list shows. If your box 10 figure relates to a dependent care account, the dependent care FSA limit guide gives the account context.
Box 13 is different. The instructions call it “Checkboxes. Check all boxes that apply”, so it holds no dollar amount: the three boxes are statutory employee, retirement plan and third-party sick pay. Box 14 is for notes, and the instructions say “Label each item”, so read the label next to each entry before treating a number as income or tax.
Boxes 15 to 20 are the state and local block. The form prints these labels: “State wages, tips, etc.”, “State income tax”, “Local wages, tips, etc.”, “Local income tax” and “Locality name”. Box 15 holds the “Employer’s state ID number”, which is an identifier rather than an amount. If you itemize and want context on the state and local tax deduction, see the SALT cap guide.
Edition and box numbers
This guide reads the 2025 edition of Form W-2 and the 2025 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3, which cover the form an employee receives in early 2026 for tax year 2025. The 2026 edition was the one irs.gov served as current on 2026-10-17. The text for boxes 10 and 11 and the box 13 retirement plan sentence is the same in both editions. Box 14 differs: the 2025 form prints “14 Other” while the 2026 form prints “14a Other” and “14b Treasury Tipped Occupation Code(s)”. Check the tax year printed on the form you received, because the box numbers and labels follow that year’s edition.
For deferred pay and box 11, the deferred compensation and state tax guide covers one case.
What this guide leaves out
Boxes 1 to 9 are not read here. This guide covers boxes 10 to 20 only, and each linked page goes into one box or group of boxes in more detail.
Common mistakes
- Treating a checked retirement plan box as a ban on IRA deductions. The form says “special limits may apply to the amount of traditional IRA contributions you may deduct”, which is a limit to work out, not a blanket rule.
- Reading every box 14 entry as taxable income. The form lists examples such as “state disability insurance taxes withheld, union dues, uniform payments”, and the instructions say “Label each item”, so the label tells you what the number is.
- Counting a box 10 amount without checking box 1. The form says “Any amount over your employer’s plan limit is also included in box 1”, so part of the benefit may already be in your wages.
Related: Dependent care FSA limit, SALT cap 2026, Deferred compensation and state tax after moving, W-2 box 12 codes explained, and W-2 box 12 versus box 1.
Sources
- Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement (2025), with the Notice to Employee and Instructions for Employee: IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
- General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2025): IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
- Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement (2026), with the Notice to Employee and Instructions for Employee: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw2.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 17, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.