State Agencies Bulletin No. 868

Subject
Form W-2 for Calendar Year 2008
Date Issued
December 17, 2008

Purpose

To provide agencies with content information for the 2008 Form W-2

Background

According to IRS Publication 15, Circular E for 2008, and the Instructions for Form W-2, employers are required to furnish each employee with a Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement by February 2, 2009. As the employer, OSC is responsible for furnishing the Form W-2 to employees with the appropriate wage, income and benefit information.

2008 Form W-2 Content

2008 Form W-2s will include earnings paid in paychecks dated:

Institution: 1/3/08 through 12/31/08
Administration: 1/9/08 through 12/24/08

An employee who has worked for more than one (1) State agency during the year will receive one (1) Form W-2. Employees who worked in more than one (1) company will receive a Form W-2 for each company. Workers’ Compensation taxable supplemental payments are included in Box 1 on the Form W-2 statements.

The information that will appear on the Form W-2 Statement is described below:

Box 1 Wages, Tips and Other Compensation
The amount in this box is the Federal taxable gross wages.
Box 2 Federal Income Tax Withheld
The amount in this box is the Federal income tax withheld.
Box 3 Social Security Wages
The amount in this box is the wages subject to Social Security taxes, not to exceed the $102,000 maximum.
Box 4 Social Security Tax Withheld
The amount in this box is the Social Security tax withheld, not to exceed $6,324.
Box 5 Medicare Wages
The amount in this box is the wages subject to Medicare withholding.
Box 6 Medicare Tax Withheld
The amount in this box is the Medicare tax withheld.
Box 9 Advance EIC Payments
The amount in this box is the Earned Income Credit paid to an employee.
Box 10 Dependent Care Benefits The amount in this box is the total dependent care deduction.
Box 12 Codes (Elected Deferrals, certain deductions and/or reimbursement amounts. These amounts are not included in Box 1.)
E - Section 403(b) contributions
G - Section 457(b) deferred compensation plan
P - Excludable moving expense reimbursements (not included in Boxes 3 and 5)
Box 13 Checkbox
[ ]Retirement PlanThird Party Sick Pay
Box 14

Other Amounts to be reported:

  • 414(h) All non-taxable retirement contributions made to New York State or City retirement systems or to TIAA-CREF. This amount must be reported for State and Local taxes. If there is a minus sign (-) with this amount, State and Local taxes have already been paid.
  • UTA Uniform/Tool Allowance.
  • EXP Taxable Expense. This code is used for payments of “lieu of expenses,” non-overnight meal allowances, excess per diem reimbursements or personal car mileage.
  • FRB Taxable Fringe Benefit. This code is used for the taxable value of personal use of an employer-provided vehicle and chauffeur services and/or CLEFR (Certification and Licensure Examination Fee Reimbursement).
  • EDA Educational Assistance Payments.
  • TXP Taxable transportation fringe benefits (parking) in excess of IRS excludable amounts.
  • PPL Pre-Paid Legal Expense.
  • IMP Imputed Income. The value of the employer’s contributions for employees with Domestic Partner Health Insurance.
  • WCX Workers’ Compensation excluded amount. This is the amount awarded by the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board which is excluded from the current year gross pay for a work-related injury.
  • IRC125 For City University of New York (CUNY) employees only, this amount includes Dependent Care, Flexible Spending Account and Non-Taxable Health Insurance, is excludable for Federal income tax, FICA and Medicare taxes, and is not included in Boxes 1, 3 and 5. This amount must be reported for State and Local taxes.
  • MNA The amount of military pay exempt from NYS income tax as provided by NY Tax Law. Note: This is applicable to members of the New York State organized militia only and paid in agencies 01071 and/or 01072.
  • CPA The amount of Chaplain’s Parsonage Allowance.
  • TPS The amount of sick pay paid by a third party. (TPS will be checked in Box 13.)
Box 15 State
A two-letter code from the list below indicating which State income taxes were withheld:

NY - New York
IL - Illinois
DC - District of Columbia
VA - Virginia

Box 16 State Wages
The State wages reported for New York State are the same as the amount of Federal wages required to be reported in Box 1 - Wages, Tips and Other Compensation.
Box 17 State Income Tax
The amount in this box is the State tax withheld.
Box 18 Local Wages
The amount in this box is the Local wages. New York City reportable wages are on the top line and Yonkers wages are directly below in the same box. For a part-year New York City resident, the amount reported is the Federal taxable gross wages for the period during which the employee was a New York City resident. Yonkers wages are the same amount as the Federal wages required to be reported in Box 1.
Box 19 Local Income Tax
The amount in this box is the Local taxes withheld. New York City tax withheld is on the top line and Yonkers tax withheld is directly below in the same box.
Box 20 Name of Locality
The name of the locality for the Local income taxes withheld for New York City and/or City of Yonkers.
Employer’s Name and Address

This information will be printed on all copies of the Form W-2 for the Company the employee worked and includes the Federal Employer Identification Number as follows:

New York State Federal ID # 14-6013200

City University Federal ID # 13-3893536

NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation Federal ID # 14-1499804

NYS Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation Federal ID # 86-1167163

SUNY Construction Fund Federal ID # 14-6019701

Industrial Exhibit Authority Federal ID # 16-1332929.

Note: “Important Tax Document Enclosed” appears on the outside of the Form W-2 Statement.

Taxable Gross Calculations and Additional Employee Information

Taxable Gross Calculations

Employees should retain their last paycheck stub/direct deposit advice statement of 2008 for a record of Non-Taxable Health Insurance paid in 2008. Employees participating in the NYS-Ride Transportation Benefit Program should retain their last paycheck stub/direct deposit advice statement for 2008 for a record of participation in the program.

Although these amounts are deducted from Boxes 1, 3 and 5 to calculate the taxable gross wages for Federal income tax and Social Security and Medicare taxes, the amounts paid for health insurance and the NYS-Ride Transportation Program in 2008 do not appear on the Form W-2.

CUNY employees with deductions for the Pre-Tax and After-Tax Transit Benefit should retain their last paycheck stub/direct deposit advice statement of 2008 for a record of participation in the CUNY Transit Benefit Transportation Spending Account Program.

Although the pre-tax amount is deducted from Boxes 1, 3 and 5 to calculate the taxable gross wages for Federal income tax and Social Security and Medicare taxes, the amounts paid for the Pre-Tax Transit Benefit and the After-Tax Transit Benefit in 2008 do not appear on the Form W-2.

Deductions for Dependent Care, Flexible Spending Account and Non-taxable Health Insurance for CUNY employees are reported as IRC125 in Box 14.

W-2 Distribution

The agency return address is used for all 2008 Form W-2 Statements.

OSC will mail employee Form W-2 Statements to employees' addresses currently in PayServ.

W-2 Corrections

Agencies should refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 837 for instructions regarding corrected wage information and the issuance of Form W-2c

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be e-mailed to the Payroll Deductions mailbox.