Tax Question/Seeking Input

Parent Cafe
1

I have a question, and not even really sure where to go from here.

My H collected short term disability in 2020. It is my understanding that this income is taxable on our federal return, but not our state (NJ). To that end, we opted to have federal taxes withheld.

We received H’s w-2 from his employer, which only included income and taxes from his work. The NJ DOL site says disability income must be reported by the employer on a w-2, as it is considered 3rd party sick pay, and that DOL sends this info to employers no later than 1/15. H followed up with the hr person at work who said the only info she had was what she sent to us.

I don’t even know how/where to follow up with this…I can pull up a snapshot of YTD income and taxes withheld on the NJ DOL site, but it isn’t an official 1099g. The NJ DOL site has pretty clear wording that they will not be reporting out this info, that the onus is on the employer. The difference in our tax liability in including this is significant (~ $5k). I want to make sure we are doing things above board. Any thoughts on what to do (besides, probably, call an accountant)?

2

Is it possible that the third party insurer is responsible for sending you the W-2? I would expect your HR person to know the answer to that question. (I think it’s supposed to be reported on a W-2.)

3

I think I’ve seen this once and the W-2 came from the insurer.

3 Likes
4

I would contact a CPA. You don’t want to take a chance on making a mistake.

1 Like
5

Thanks for the replies, I think I figured it out.

The amount that was considered taxable income is significantly smaller than the total amount he received. I realize now that this taxable amount was included in the w-2 as part of the income listed in box 1, rather than listed separately.

Phew! I hate tax stuff and I always worry I’m doing something wrong.

4 Likes
6

I’m not sure if it’s the same, but I had a short term medical leave and the insurer sent me a separate W2 for those wages.