Your W-2
Learn about your W-2 document from ASU
Refer to the IRS General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 for more information.
Resources
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 payslip matches that on their current-year W-2 statement. Employees can view their payslip in Workday under Main Menu > Benefits and Pay > Pay > Payments > Payslips.
Box 1: Wages, tips, other compensation: This is taxable wages; for most employees, it is calculated as total gross earnings plus any imputed income from employer-paid group term life insurance, less pre-tax deductions. This is denoted as Federal Withholding - Taxable Wages under the Taxable Wages section of your payslip. This amount also includes taxable graduate-level tuition discounts.
Box 2: Federal income tax withheld: This is the employee taxes section of the payslip under federal withholding.
Box 3: Social Security wages: Total gross earnings and imputed income from group term life insurance noted under employer-paid benefits on your payslip, less any deductions that are not subject to Social Security taxes; this is primarily pre-tax deductions including medical insurance, dental insurance, flexible spending accounts and before-tax parking. However, 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 2025 is $176,100.
Box 4: Social Security tax withheld: 6.2% of the Social Security Wages reported in Box 3. The maximum amount withheld for 2025 is $10,918.20. This is shown on the payslip under employee taxes as OASDI.
Box 5: Medicare wages and tips: The calculation for Medicare wages is the same as for Social Security wages. There is no annual maximum limit for Medicare taxable wages for 2025.
Box 6: Medicare tax withheld: This is shown under employee taxes on your payslip as Medicare. 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 Flex Spending-Child/Adult Care on your payslip.
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 — post-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 the 50,000+ GTL imputed income amount in the employer-paid benefits section of the payslip.
- 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 pre-tax deductions as Voluntary 403B Plan on the payslip.
- Code EE — post-tax contributions to a Roth section 457(b) plan.
- 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 — employee and employer contributions to a health savings account.
Box 13: Statutory employee retirement plan: This is checked if you participate in a mandatory retirement plan.
Box 14: Retirement plan, United Way and miscellaneous state reporting: This box shows your contributions to the Arizona State Retirement System or the Optional Retirement Plan, and United Way contributions made through payroll deduction. These contributions appear in the pre-tax deductions section of the payslip under various deduction codes. Box 14 is also used to satisfy various state reporting requirements for Disability, Paid Family and Medical Leave, and Transit Taxes in select states. Qualified overtime earnings are reported in Box 14, as of 2025.
Box 15: State: This indicates the state where your wages and taxes are being reported. Wages and taxes for each state will be shown separately if wages and taxes were reported for more than one state.
Box 16: State wages, tips, etc.: This is your state taxable wages. Each state will show separately if wages were reported for more than one state. This figure will match Box 1 for most employees.
Box 17: State income tax: The amount of state tax withheld. Each state will show separately if you had taxes reported for more than one state. This is located in the employee taxes section of the payslip, with one entry for each state for which taxes were withheld; for example, state tax —Arizona, state tax — California.
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.
Box 19: Local income tax withheld: This box is not used for most ASU employees.
Box 20: Locality name: This field provides a brief description of the entity that assesses and collects 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 W-2. 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 W-2 copies will have truncated SSNs, while the electronic copy downloaded from Workday will show the full SSN.