Artículo Differential wage payments.. Differential wage payments.

id="en_US_2025_publink1000236648"> Differential wage payments. This is any payment made to you by an employer for any period during which you are, for a period of more than 30 days, an active duty member of the uniformed services and represents all or a portion of the wages you would have received from the employer during that period. These payments are treated as wages and are subject to income tax withholding but not FICA or FUTA tax. The payments are reported as wages on Form W-2. Government cost-of-living allowances. Most payments received by U.S. Government civilian employees for working abroad are taxable. However, certain cost-of-living allowances are tax free. Pub. 516, U.S. Government Civilian Employees Stationed Abroad, explains the tax treatment of allowances, differentials, and other special pay you receive for employment abroad. Nonqualified deferred compensation plans. Your employer may report to you the total amount of deferrals for the year under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan in box 12 of Form W-2, using code Y. This amount isn’t included in your income. However, if at any time during the tax year, the plan fails to meet certain requirements, or isn’t operated under those requirements, all amounts deferred under the plan for the tax year and all preceding tax years to the extent vested and not previously included in income are included in your income for the current year. This amount is included in your wages shown in box 1 of Form W-2. It’s also shown in box 12 of Form W-2, using code Z. Note received for services. If your employer gives you a secured note as payment for your services, you must include the fair market value (usually the discount value) of the note in your income for the year you receive it. When you later receive payments on the note, a proportionate part of each payment is the recovery of the fair market value that you previously included in your income. Don’t include that part again in your income. Include the rest of the payment in your income in the year of payment. If your employer gives you a nonnegotiable unsecured note as payment for your services, payments on the note that are credited toward the principal amount of the note are compensation income when you receive them. Severance pay. If you receive a severance payment when your employment with your employer ends or is terminated, you must include this amount in your income. Accrued leave payment. If you’re a federal employee and receive a lump-sum payment for accrued annual leave when you retire or resign, this amount will be included as wages on your Form W-2. If you resign from one agency and are reemployed by another agency, you may have to repay part of your lump-sum annual leave payment to the second agency. You can reduce gross wages by the amount you repaid in the same tax year in which you received it. Attach to your tax return a copy of the receipt or statement given to you by the agency you repaid to explain the difference between the wages on the return and the wages on your Forms W-2. Outplacement services. If you choose to accept a reduced amount of severance pay so that you can receive outplacement services (such as training in résumé writing and interview techniques), you must include the unreduced amount of the severance pay in income. Sick pay. Pay you receive from your employer while you’re sick or injured is part of your salary or wages. In addition, you must include in your income sick pay benefits received from any of the following payers. A welfare fund. A state sickness or disability fund. An association of employers or employees. An insurance company if your employer paid for the plan. However, if you paid the premiums on an accident or health insurance policy yourself, the benefits you receive under the policy aren’t taxable. For more information, see Pub. 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income. Social security and Medicare taxes paid by employer. If you and your employer have an agreement that your employer pays your social security and Medicare taxes without deducting them from your gross wages, you must report the amount of tax paid for you as taxable wages on your tax return. The payment is also treated as wages for figuring your social security and Medicare taxes and your social security and Medicare benefits. However, these payments aren’t treated as social security and Medicare wages if you’re a household worker or a farm worker. Stock appreciation rights. Don’t include a stock appreciation right granted by your employer in income until you exercise (use) the right. When you use the right, you’re entitled to a cash payment equal to the fair market value of the corporation’s stock on the date of use minus the fair market value on the date the right was granted. You include the cash payment in your income in the year you use the right. Fringe Benefits Fringe benefits received in connection with the performance of your services are included in your income as compensation unless you pay fair market value for them or they’re specifically excluded by law. Refraining from the performance of services (for example, under a covenant not to compete) is treated as the performance of services for purposes of these rules. Accounting period. You must use the same accounting period your employer uses to report your taxable noncash fringe benefits. Your employer has the option to report taxable noncash fringe benefits by using either of the following rules. The general rule: benefits are reported for a full calendar year (January 1–December 31). The special accounting period rule: benefits provided during the last 2 months of the calendar year (or any shorter period) are treated as paid during the following calendar year, for example, each year your employer reports the value of benefits provided during the last 2 months of the prior year and the first 10 months of the current year. Your employer doesn’t have to use the same accounting period for each fringe benefit, but must use the same period for all employees who receive a particular benefit. You must use the same accounting period that you use to report the benefit to claim an employee business deduction (for use of a car, for example). Form W-2. Your employer must include all taxable fringe benefits in box 1 of Form W-2 as wages, tips, and other compensation and, if applicable, in boxes 3 and 5 as social security and Medicare wages. Although not required, your employer may include the total value of fringe benefits in box 14 (or on a separate statement). However, if your employer provided you with a vehicle and included 100% of its annual lease value in your income, the employer must separately report this value to you in box 14 (or on a separate statement). Accident or Health Plan In most cases, the value of accident or health plan coverage provided to you by your employer isn’t included in your income. Benefits you receive from the plan may be taxable, as explained later under Sickness and Injury Benefits . For information on the items covered in this section, other than long-term care coverage, see Pub. 969, Health Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Favored Health Plans. Long-term care coverage. Contributions by your employer to provide coverage for long-term care services generally aren’t included in your income. However, contributions made through a flexible spending or similar arrangement offered by your employer must be included in your income. This amount will be reported as wages in box 1 of Form W-2. Contributions you make to the plan are discussed in Pub. 502, Medical and Dental Expenses. Archer MSA contributions. Contributions by your employer to your Archer MSA generally aren’t included in your income. Their total will be reported in box 12 of Form W-2, with code R. You must report this amount on Form 8853, Archer MSAs and Long-Term Care Insurance Contracts. File the form with your return. Health flexible spending arrangement (health FSA). If your employer provides a health FSA that qualifies as an accident or health plan, the amount of your salary reduction, and reimbursements of your medical care expenses, in most cases, aren’t included in your income. Note: Health FSAs are subject to a limit on salary reduction contributions for plan years beginning after 2012. For tax years beginning in 2025, the dollar limitation (as indexed for inflation) on voluntary employee salary reductions for contributions to health FSAs is $3,300. Health reimbursement arrangement (HRA). If your employer provides an HRA that qualifies as an accident or health plan, coverage and reimbursements of your medical care expenses generally aren’t included in your income. Health savings account (HSA). If you’re an eligible individual, you and any other person, including your employer or a family member, can make contributions to your HSA. Contributions, other than employer contributions, are deductible on your return whether or not you itemize deductions. Contributions made by your employer aren’t included in your income. Distributions from your HSA that are used to pay qualified medical expenses aren’t included in your income. Distributions not used for qualified medical expenses are included in your income. See Pub. 969 for the requirements of an HSA. Contributions by a partnership to a bona fide partner’s HSA aren’t contributions by an employer. The contributions are treated as a distribution of money and aren’t included in the partner’s gross income. Contributions by a partnership to a partner’s HSA for services rendered are treated as guaranteed payments that are includible in the partner’s gross income. In both situations, the partner can deduct the contribution made to the partner’s HSA. Contributions by an S corporation to a 2% shareholder-employee’s HSA for services rendered are treated as guaranteed payments and are includible in the shareholder-employee’s gross income. The shareholder-employee can deduct the contribution made to the shareholder-em