Box 3 should match box 1
March 13, 2011 1:03 PM Subscribe
Why would social security wages + tax not show up on my grad student wife's W2?
I was just looking at my wife's Social Security statement and realized that she was not being credited with earnings for her years working as a teaching assistant grad student at her current university.
I pulled out some of her old W2s from the university and found that boxes 3 - 6 (Social Security Wages, Social Security tax paid, Medicare wages, Medicare tax paid) are all blank.
The google results I've found so far state that all wage earnings under the Social Security wage base limit should be subject to Social Security tax and that boxes 1 & 3 should contain the same number if earnings are below that limit.
Are there some special rules having to do with grad students at a state university? I haven't found anything so far and her earnings from her previous school (a private university) are on the Social Security statement correctly.
If this is a mistake on the part of the university, how would we go about getting it fixed? The problem goes back a number of years and it's rather important, since the lack of credits affects her eligibility for disability.
We haven't spoken to the HR department at the university yet, since I just discovered the problem today. I would like to have as much information as possible before my wife has to go face the bureaucracy.
Thanks in advance for any and all help.
I was just looking at my wife's Social Security statement and realized that she was not being credited with earnings for her years working as a teaching assistant grad student at her current university.
I pulled out some of her old W2s from the university and found that boxes 3 - 6 (Social Security Wages, Social Security tax paid, Medicare wages, Medicare tax paid) are all blank.
The google results I've found so far state that all wage earnings under the Social Security wage base limit should be subject to Social Security tax and that boxes 1 & 3 should contain the same number if earnings are below that limit.
Are there some special rules having to do with grad students at a state university? I haven't found anything so far and her earnings from her previous school (a private university) are on the Social Security statement correctly.
If this is a mistake on the part of the university, how would we go about getting it fixed? The problem goes back a number of years and it's rather important, since the lack of credits affects her eligibility for disability.
We haven't spoken to the HR department at the university yet, since I just discovered the problem today. I would like to have as much information as possible before my wife has to go face the bureaucracy.
Thanks in advance for any and all help.
Response by poster: griseus - do have any links where I could find the rules concerning that exemption?
posted by tdismukes at 1:20 PM on March 13, 2011
posted by tdismukes at 1:20 PM on March 13, 2011
Best answer: http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/taxability.phtml
posted by JayRwv at 1:22 PM on March 13, 2011
posted by JayRwv at 1:22 PM on March 13, 2011
Your wife's university should have a page on this. Try searching for "graduate assistant FICA". For example, Minnesota, Illinois (see the section under Stipend)
This was definitely the practice at my grad school. If you were a graduate student working in an assistantship, FICA taxes were not withheld, and that time didn't count towards your social security credits. You should have been getting the yearly social security mailing about your current status that would show you that was the case.
posted by MsMolly at 1:26 PM on March 13, 2011
This was definitely the practice at my grad school. If you were a graduate student working in an assistantship, FICA taxes were not withheld, and that time didn't count towards your social security credits. You should have been getting the yearly social security mailing about your current status that would show you that was the case.
posted by MsMolly at 1:26 PM on March 13, 2011
Best answer: OP, see this link for a technical IRS bulletin on the exemption from FICA for graduate students performing work for a university. The recent Mayo case was on this issue as it applies to medical residents, if you want to do some googling.
IANYL, and this is not legal or tax advice. Consult your own tax or legal advisers.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 1:28 PM on March 13, 2011
IANYL, and this is not legal or tax advice. Consult your own tax or legal advisers.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 1:28 PM on March 13, 2011
This can vary greatly from university to university and even between different sources of funding/appointments within the same university. The fellowship I have now has zero withholdings and I need to pay taxes on it now but some TAs have taxes withheld from their monthly paychecks.
posted by slow graffiti at 2:42 PM on March 13, 2011
posted by slow graffiti at 2:42 PM on March 13, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by griseus at 1:16 PM on March 13, 2011 [2 favorites]