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Form W-2 — Payroll Definition
Form W-2 paystub meaning: Annual tax statement from your employer showing total wages and taxes withheld for the year. Learn where it appears and how it...
Annual tax statement from your employer showing total wages and taxes withheld for the year.
The W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) is the form your employer sends you by January 31st each year summarizing your annual earnings and tax withholdings. It's essential for filing your tax return. Key boxes: Box 1 (Wages, tips, compensation), Box 2 (Federal tax withheld), Box 3 (Social Security wages), Box 5 (Medicare wages), Box 12 (codes for 401k, health, etc.), and Box 17 (State tax). Your final paystub's YTD figures should closely match your W-2.
Tax-form labels must be interpreted using the form for the correct year and its official instructions. A paystub draft is not a filed tax form and does not replace an employer, payer, payroll provider, or agency record.
When this term appears on a statement, read its label, current amount, year-to-date amount, pay-period context, and any adjacent rate or hours together. Resolve a mismatch with the original issuer or the cited authority rather than changing a record to force a preferred result.
Related terms
- Form W-4 — The IRS form you fill out when hired to tell your employer how much federal tax to withhold.
- Year-to-Date (YTD) — Running total of earnings and deductions from January 1st through the current pay period.
- Federal Income Tax (FIT) — Tax withheld from your paycheck based on your W-4 elections and IRS tax brackets.
- Form 1099-NEC — Tax form generally used to report $2,000 or more of 2026 nonemployee compensation.