Your W-2

Review the information below to learn about your W-2 document from ASU. Refer to the IRS General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 for more information.

• Arizona Department of Revenue.
• Internal Revenue Service.
• Online tax net.
• Social Security.

W-2: ASU must report taxable wages and related compensation, income taxes, and certain other information to employees, the Internal Revenue Service, the state of Arizona or other states for which the university withholds taxes. W-2s are mailed to all ASU employees by Jan. 31 of the following year unless the employee has selected the electronic-only method of receiving his or her W-2. 

In most cases, information on an employee’s paycheck summary will correspond to information on their current year W-2 statement. Employees can view their paycheck summary on My ASU in the My Employment section under the Payroll tab at View Paycheck.

Box 1: Wages, tips, other compensation: For most employees, this is taxable wages, which is total gross earnings plus any imputed income denoted as taxable under employer-paid benefits, less before-tax deductions or fed taxable gross on your paycheck summary. This amount also includes taxable graduate-level tuition discounts.

Box 2: Federal income tax withheld: This is the taxes section of the paycheck summary under fed withholding. Note: The word withholding has been truncated to fit within space limits on the paycheck summary.

Box 3: Social Security wages: Total gross earnings and imputed income denoted as taxable under employer-paid benefits on your paycheck summary less any deductions that are not subject to Social Security taxes; this is primarily medical insurance, dental insurance, flexible spending accounts and before-tax parking. Mandatory retirement plan contributions and voluntary participation in 403b and deferred compensation plans are subject to Social Security taxes and are included in Social Security wages. The Social Security limit for 2023 is $160,200.

Box 4: Social Security tax withheld: 6.2% of the Social Security Wages reported in Box 3. The maximum amount withheld for 2023 is $9,932.40. This is shown on the paycheck summary under taxes as Fed OASDI/EE.

Box 5: Medicare wages and tips: The calculation to determine Medicare wages is the same as Social Security wages. There is no annual maximum limit for Medicare taxable wages for 2022.

Box 6: Medicare tax withheld: This is shown under taxes as Fed MED/EE on your paycheck summary. This amount includes the 1.45% Medicare tax withheld on all Medicare wages and tips shown in Box 5, as well as the 0.9% additional Medicare tax on any of those Medicare wages and tips above $200,000.

Boxes 7–9: These are not applicable to ASU.

Box 10: Dependent care benefits: These are shown under before-tax deductions as FSA_DEPEND on your paycheck summary.

Box 11: Nonqualified plans: This box is not used by most ASU employees.

Box 12: The following list explains the codes shown in Box 12.

• Code BB — after-tax contributions to a Roth 403(b) retirement plan.
• Code C — taxable cost of group-term life insurance over $50,000 — included in boxes 1, 3 up to Social Security wage base, 5 and 16. This amount is indicated by deductions notated as taxable in the employer-paid benefits section of the paycheck summary.
• Code DD — cost of employer-sponsored health coverage, including both the employee and employer costs. The amount reported with code 12 DD is not taxable.
• Code E — elective deferrals under a section 403(b) salary reduction agreement as shown in the before-tax deductions as VOL_403B on the paycheck summary.
• Code G — Elective deferrals and employer contributions — including non-elective deferrals — to a section 457(b) deferred compensation plan.
• Code T — adoption benefits paid or reimbursed to the employee under the University’s Adoption Assistance Program. 
• Code W — employer contributions to a health savings account.

Box 13: Statutory employee retirement plan: This is checked if you participate in one of the mandatory retirement plans.

Box 14: Retirement plan, United Way and miscellaneous state reporting: This box shows your contributions to the Arizona State Retirement System or Optional Retirement Plan and United Way contributions made through payroll deduction. These contributions appear in the before-tax deductions section of the paycheck summary under various deduction codes. Box 14 is also used to satisfy reporting requirements related to State Disability, Paid Family and Medical Leave, and Transit Taxes for select states.   

Box 15: State: This indicates the state where your wages and taxes are being reported. The wages and taxes for each state will show separately if wages and taxes were reported for more than one state. 

Box 16: State wages, tips, etc.: This is your state taxable wages. The wages and taxes for each state will show separately if you had wages and taxes were reported for more than one state. This figure will match Box 1 for most employees. 

Box 17: State income tax: This is the amount of state tax withheld. The wages and taxes for each state will show separately if you had wages and taxes reported for more than one state. This is located in the taxes tab of the paycheck summary, separately for each state for which taxes were withheld; for example, AZ withholding, CA withholding. The word withholding has been truncated to fit within space limits on the paycheck summary.

Box 18: Local wages, tips, etc.: This represents your taxable local wages if you reside in a state that allows cities, counties, or school districts to levy separate income taxes in addition to state income taxes. This box is not used for most ASU employees because Arizona does not have local income taxes. This box will typically match Box 1 if it is used.

Box 19: Local income tax withheld: This box is not used for most ASU employees.

Box 20: Locality name: This provides a brief description of the entity assessing and collecting local income taxes. This box is not used for most ASU employees.

Box A: Employee's Social Security Number: The IRS is allowing truncated social security numbers to be printed on the W2. The first five digits of the nine-digit SSN will show Xs, and the last four digits will be viewable. For example, XXX-XX-1234. All mailed W2 copies will have truncated SSNs, while the electronic copy downloaded from My ASU will show the entire number.

Box D: Control number: The information in this box is used when importing ASU tax information into tax preparation software such as Turbo Tax or TaxAct. The control number is your 10-digit ASU affiliate ID followed by a space and the code VYF. Example: 1000000000 VYF. The control number only appears on the ADP mailed copy of the W-2 and not on the ASU provided form accessible through My ASU self-service.