Sons W2 form cant be right

Joined
Sep 5, 2007
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1,790
My son is a full time student and works part time at a nice upscale food joint. He averages around 3 nights a week at most and on a good night he may make 150 bucks. Most of the time he makes 60 to 70 or less. He gets his W2 form and it says he made 20k last year. Thats 400 a week for 50 weeks..NO WAY..He knows he cant win by complaining to the boss who likes to fire people for any little reason he wants,but I think something crooked is going on. What should he do?


?
 

JB

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Messages
45,907
Re: Sons W2 form cant be right

First he needs to ask his employer to verify the W2.

If he has no way to prove otherwise, he just needs TurboTax to help him figure out how much he owes.

The IRS isn't interested in guesses, and that seems to be all you have.
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,819
Re: Sons W2 form cant be right

Start by looking at his pay stubs to verify, and to see how much they are withholding.
 

kenmyfam

Supreme Mariner
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Aug 10, 2006
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Re: Sons W2 form cant be right

Agree with Roscoe. Pay stubs will verify or not as the case may be.
 

Wishiniwuzfishin

Chief Petty Officer
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Jan 17, 2010
Messages
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Re: Sons W2 form cant be right

Was all the 20k in box 1 of the W-2 or was there an amount in box 8 also?
 

DECK SWABBER 58

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
1,913
Re: Sons W2 form cant be right

I don't understand.

The more wages an employer pays the more he has to pay
in workman's comp, employee withholding, etc.

How could this benefit the employer?

As said, did he save his check stubs?
It's a federal law that employer's have
to keep a record of deductions. Most
do it right on the payroll check.
 

foodfisher

Captain
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
3,756
Re: Sons W2 form cant be right

Wages+tips=pay. Automatic 15% gratuity added here. +1 on checking the numbers
 

avenger79

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 5, 2008
Messages
1,792
Re: Sons W2 form cant be right

I don't understand.

The more wages an employer pays the more he has to pay
in workman's comp, employee withholding, etc.

How could this benefit the employer?

As said, did he save his check stubs?
It's a federal law that employer's have
to keep a record of deductions. Most
do it right on the payroll check.

employer doesn't have to pay taxes on money in tips box, but son would have to thanks to the employer estimating that amount for tips.

used to be you filled in your own tips in the box.
 

Wishiniwuzfishin

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
415
Re: Sons W2 form cant be right

There is a formula the employer would use to figure "allocated tips". It is not a straight 15%. If your son received "allocated tips", they would be shown in box 8. This is added to the wages in box 1 and reported as wages on his 1040 form line 7. He must use form 1040 if he has allocated tips. If he does have a number in box 8 that he doesn't agree with, there are ways he can avoid reporting that amount.
 

gonefishie

Commander
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
2,624
Re: Sons W2 form cant be right

The IRS has caught onto servers not claiming all of their tips so they figured the tips based on the total amount of sales. You can't get away with not claiming everything you get anymore. If he's a full time student, he gets all federal withheld back anyway.
 

Wishiniwuzfishin

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
415
Re: Sons W2 form cant be right

If there is an amount in box 8 and it is wrong, which it would seem to be from his original post, there are ways he can legally avoid reporting the amount in box 8. If all of the $20K was in box 1, and it is wrong, he would have to get a corrected W-2 form.
 
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