Form 8959 and 1040 show different W2 amounts - employer overwithheld medicare tax

[jmaxgross]

Just finished up and trying to file but noticed that form 8959 is using a different W2 number than form 1040.

Based on W2 income, I would expect that the .09% bump (over 250K for married jointly) would be based on that 1040 line 1. If my employer collected the additional tax over 200K, but my joint earnings were NOT over 250K, I should get a credit for that difference. From 8959 should come out with a negative number.

If my understanding is correct, it should be using the same amount for form 8959 (line 1) and 1040 (line1).

I'm actually getting a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT W2 amount on each form, and no trackback to where 8959 is pulling from, as it's 20K higher than 1040.

[rjs]

Form 1040 line 1 is the total of box 1 on all of your W-2s. Form 8959 line 1 is the sum of box 5 on all of your W-2s. That's what the IRS forms and instructions require. It's very common for box 5 to be higher than box 1.

EDIT: Corrected form number.

[phishmonger]

It seems that Turbotax is double counting some of the income for form 8959 in situations where one works in one state and lives in another (NJ/NY).

[DMarkM1]

It is not uncommon for box 5 amounts used on form 8959 to be higher than taxable wages (box 1).  Living in one state and working in another will not affect the total W2, box 5 amounts.  You would only enter one W2 for the employer which may have two state lines (box 15); one for NY and one for NJ, for example, with duplicated wages in box 16.  However, that does not affect the box 5 amount or form 8959.

You would eliminate the duplicated wages (for used for income tax purposes only) when allocating in the state interviews.