2025 Instructions for Employee - Box 1 to Box 12

Sep 19, 2026

2025 instructions guide employees on how to report wage and benefit amounts shown on tax return boxes. The guidance specifies what to enter for wages, federal income tax withheld, and how certain items relate to other forms such as Form 8959 and Form 4137. It explains allocated tips, dependent care benefits, treatment of deferrals and distributions, and the meaning of Box 12 codes, including elective deferrals, designated Roth contributions, sick pay, and other listed categories.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

2025 Instructions for Employee

Box 1 - Box 8 entries and tip reporting

Box 10 and Box 11 treatment

Box 12 code explanations

2025 Instructions for Employee Box 1. Enter this amount on the wages line of your tax return. Box 2 . Enter this amount on the federal income tax withheld line of your tax return. Box 5. You may be required to report this amount on Form 8959. See the Form 1040 instructions to determine if you are required to complete Form 8959. Box 6 . This amount includes the 1.45% Medicare tax withheld on all Medicare wages and tips shown in box 5, as well as the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on any of those Medicare wages and tips above $200,000 . Box 8 . This amount is not included in box 1, 3, 5, or 7. For information on how to report tipson your tax return, see the Form 1040 instructions. You must ﬁle Form 4137 with your income tax return to report at least the allocated tip amount unless you can prove with adequate records that you received a smaller amount. If you have records that show the actual amount of tips you received, report that amount even if it is more or less than the allocated tips. Use Form 4137 to ﬁgure the social security and Medicare tax owed on tips you didn’t report to your employer. Enter this amount on the wages line of your tax return. By ﬁling Form 4137, your social security tips will be credited to your social security record (used to ﬁgure your beneﬁts) . Box 10. This amount includes the total dependent care beneﬁts that your employer paid to you or incurred on your behalf (including amounts from a section 125 (cafeteria) plan). Any amount over your employer’s plan limit is also included in box 1. See Form 2441. Box 11. This amount is (a) reported in box 1 if it is a distribution made to you from anonqualiﬁed deferred compensation or nongovernmental section 457(b) plan, or (b) included in box 3 and/or box 5 if it is a prior year deferral under a nonqualiﬁed or section 457(b) plan that became taxable for social security and Medicare taxes this year because there is no longer a substantial risk of forfeiture of your right to the deferred amount. This box shouldn’t be used if you had a deferral and a distribution in the same calendar year. If you made a deferral and received a distribution in the same calendar year, and you are or will be age 62 by the end of the calendar year, your employer should ﬁle Form SSA-131, Employer Report of Special Wage Payments, with the Social Security Administration and give you a copy. Box 12. The following list explains the codes shown in box 12. You may need this information to complete your tax return. Elective deferrals (codes D, E, F, and S) and designated Roth contributions (codes AA, BB, and EE) under all plans are generally limited to a total of $23,500 (Generally, $16,500 for SIMPLE plans; $26,500 for section 403(b) plans if you qualify for the 15-year rule explained in Pub. 571) . Deferrals under code G are limited to $23,500 . Deferrals under code H are limited to $7,000 . However, if you were at least age 50 in 2025, your employer may have allowed an additional elective deferral or designated Roth contribution (catch-up contribution) to your plan. For information about the limits on these catch-up contributions, including the higher limit if you were age 60 through 63 as of December 31, 2025, see Pub. 525. Contact your plan administrator for more information. Amounts in excess of the overall elective deferral limit must be included in income. See the Form 1040 instructions. Note: If a year follows code D through H, S, Y, AA, BB, or EE, you made a make-up pension contribution for a prior year(s) when you were in military service. To ﬁgure whether you made excess deferrals, consider these amounts for the year shown, not the current year. If no year is shown, the contributions are for the current year. A—Uncollected social security or RRTA tax on tips. Include this tax on Form 1040 or 1040-SR. See the Form 1040 instructions. B—Uncollected Medicare tax on tips. Include this tax on Form 1040 or 1040-SR. See the Form 1040 instructions. C—Taxable co

FAQs

What should an employee enter for Box 1, Box 2, and Box 5?

Enter the Box 1 amount on the wages line of the tax return, enter the Box 2 amount on the federal income tax withheld line, and use Box 5 amounts to determine whether Form 8959 is required, as referenced in the Form 1040 instructions.

How are allocated tips reported, and which form is required?

File Form 4137 with the income tax return to report at least the allocated tip amount unless adequate records prove a smaller received amount. If the actual tip amount is known, report that amount even if it differs from allocated tips.

What does Box 12 explain, and where are the code limits referenced?

Box 12 lists codes that may be needed to complete the tax return, including elective deferrals and designated Roth contributions. The instructions describe general total limits and separate limits by code, and they reference Pub. 525 for catch-up contribution limit details when applicable.

Sep 19, 2026

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