On the W-2 form, are taxable wages the same as your yearly salary?

Question

On my w-2, I noticed my 'social security wages' (box 3) are higher than my 'wages, tips, other compensation' (box 1.) Are either of these amounts my total wages for the year? Or, are these just the amounts that are taxable after insurance premiums and other pre-tax deductions are taken out?

Answer 1

Your annual salary, as designated by the IRS, may be significantly lower than your social security wages because you pay social security on every dime you earn, your annual salary may be (and hopefully is!) reduced by things like 401k contributions.

In other words, you don't get ANY tax breaks (EVER) on what you have to pay into social security.

Nice, huh?

Answer 2

Box 1 is after the pre-tax deductions are taken out. Box 3 is probably your total wages for the year, before the deductions are taken out, since you still pay social security and medicare on most of the pre-tax items.

Answer 3

Box 1 is your taxable income. Box 3 may be a larger amount than box 1 because you had some type of deduction that was pre-tax. could have been a 401K plan, insurance, etc. ,, but something was taken out as pre-tax. Box 3 shows your gross income, and social security is paid on that amount.

Answer 4

Your total amount for the year is in box 1. To be honest with you Its uncommon that your social security wages is higher then your wages. It should be the other way around. You might want to get that looked at. So when you do your taxes ask someone. I suggest you go to Liberty Tax Service.

Answer 5

Unfortunately, the term "total wages" is a bit nebulous. There are places on the 1040 form for each number, and the principal one is the Box 1 number. That is used for the compensation line.

Answer 6

Jo Blo's got the correct answer. SS and Medicare wages often appear as a different number on the W-2's.