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Reporting Multiple State Earnings on the W-2

A Tax & Finance Resource by Complete Payroll

When it comes to multiple state withholdings, New York does something a little differently than most states. In fact, most employees that report withholdings in multiple states (when one of those is New York) usually believe there's an error on their W-2. We're here to set the record straight.

 

Overview

When it comes to multiple state withholdings, New York does something a little differently than most states. In fact, most employees that report withholdings in multiple states (when one of those is New York) usually believe there's an error on their W-2. We're here to set the record straight.

 

 

 

Making Sense of the W-2

In Box 16 most states report the amount of wage that was earned in that state. So if you had state withholding in more than one state, you would see the first state listed in box 15 followed by the wage earned in that state in Box 16. Beneath that you would see the next state listed in Box 15 followed by the wage earned in that state in Box 16. When the two wage amounts listed in each of the Box 16  are added together they would total box 1 which is your Federal Wage amount.

 

W-2 Box 15 and 16.png

 

For New York this is not the case…

In New York, they don’t report the total wage made in New York State, they report the total Federal wages from Box 1 in the state wage Box 16.

So, even if only 2 weeks of your yearly wage was in New York, Box 16 will show whatever is in Box 1, and if you have another state along with New York when both wage amounts from Box 16 are added together you could potentially have more than your federal wages in Box 1.

Does this mean you're being double taxed on those wages?

No. When filing your personal tax return in New York there is a section to explain if any of the wages you made were out of the state and how much of the wage was made in New York. This allows the state to figure out just how much wage was actually made in New York and how much tax should have been paid.

If you want to see the proof for yourself you can find the information in Publication NY-50 on page 33 under heading “Employee Requirements Concerning the Reporting of New York State Wages." 

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