The state information on a W-2 lives in Boxes 15 through 20 at the bottom of the form. Those boxes tell you which state (and sometimes which city or county) taxed your wages, how much of your pay was subject to that tax, and how much your employer already withheld and sent in on your behalf. You’ll copy those numbers onto your state and local returns, where the withholding becomes a credit against what you owe.
What Each State Box Reports
Box 15 shows the two-letter state abbreviation along with your employer’s state ID number, a tracking number the state tax agency assigns separately from the federal EIN. Box 16 is your state taxable wages. Box 17 is the state income tax withheld from your paychecks during the year, and that figure is what you claim as a payment on your state return.1Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026)
Boxes 18, 19, and 20 cover local income tax if a city or county taxes your wages. Box 18 is the local taxable wages, Box 19 is the local tax withheld, and Box 20 names the locality. A single W-2 has room for two states and two localities. If you worked in more than two states during the year, your employer will issue an additional W-2 for the overflow.1Internal Revenue Service. General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026)
Why Your State Wages Don’t Match Your Federal Wages
Box 16 often shows a different number than Box 1. Each state decides for itself which types of pay and which pre-tax deductions count toward its wage base, so items that reduce your federal taxable income don’t always reduce your state taxable income. Pre-tax transportation benefits are a common source of the gap. Some retirement plan contributions, employer-paid benefits, and health savings account deposits are treated differently at the state level, too.
Multi-state situations make the difference more visible. Each state’s Box 16 should reflect only the wages earned in that state, and the state figures added together will usually land close to Box 1. New York is an exception worth flagging: it reports the full federal wage amount in Box 16 rather than just the portion earned in New York. If the numbers look off, that’s the first place to check.
When Boxes 15 Through 17 Are Blank
Eight states impose no personal income tax at all: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. Washington also has no broad-based income tax, though it taxes capital gains above a threshold for high earners.2The White House. The Economic Impact of State Income Tax Elimination If you worked in one of these states, expect Boxes 15 through 17 to be blank.
Blank state boxes don’t always mean you owe nothing to any state. If you live in a state that does tax income and traveled or commuted to a no-tax state for work, your home state can still tax those earnings. The W-2 only reflects withholding for states where your employer actually withheld tax, which may not match every state that eventually claims a share.
Multi-State and Remote Work
When you earned wages in more than one state, your employer should have withheld for each state and reported the split across separate lines in Boxes 15 through 17. You’ll usually file a nonresident return in the state where you worked and a resident return where you live. To avoid being taxed twice on the same wages, most states let you claim a credit on your resident return for taxes paid to the other state.
About 16 states and the District of Columbia have reciprocity agreements, and under those agreements your employer only withholds for your home state even when you cross state lines to work. If your employer withheld for the work state by mistake, you’ll need to file in the work state to recover the money and may still owe your home state.
Remote workers should watch for the “convenience of the employer” rule. A handful of states, most prominently New York, can tax your income based on your employer’s location rather than where you actually sit. If you work from home in another state for your own convenience rather than because your employer requires it, New York may still claim the right to tax those wages. A few other states apply similar rules. Check both states before assuming you only owe where you live.
Using the State Boxes to File
When you file your state return, the figures in Boxes 15 through 20 get transferred to the corresponding fields on the state form. Tax software handles this automatically once the W-2 is entered. On paper, attach Copy 2 of the W-2 to your state return. Many states also run free e-filing portals as an alternative to commercial software.
Most state deadlines match the federal April 15 date.3Internal Revenue Service. When to File Many states accept the federal extension as a state extension, though some require a separate form. An extension gives you more time to file, not more time to pay, and late-filing penalties in most states run around 5% of unpaid tax per month, typically capping at 25%.
If you worked in multiple states, file the nonresident returns first and then the resident return, so you have the actual tax paid to each work state in hand when you claim the credit at home. Filing them out of order won’t change the final numbers, but it can delay a refund while one state waits for information from another.
Fixing Errors in the State Boxes
If Box 15, 16, or 17 doesn’t match your pay records, ask your employer for a Form W-2c, the corrected version of the W-2.4Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-2 C, Corrected Wage and Tax Statements Typical problems include the wrong state in Box 15, wages allocated to the wrong state in a multi-state year, or withholding that doesn’t match your final pay stub. Push for the correction before April so you can file an accurate return from the start.
If the employer won’t issue a corrected form, you can file your return with the figures you know are right and attach Form 4852, the substitute for a W-2. Form 4852 has separate lines for state income tax withheld and local income tax withheld, so it covers the state boxes as well as the federal ones.5Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement Processing takes longer than a normal return because the agency has to reconcile your figures against what the employer reported.
If You’re Missing the W-2 Entirely
Contact the employer first. Payroll or HR is the fastest route to a replacement, especially if you changed addresses or left the company. The IRS recommends this step before any others.6Internal Revenue Service. Transcript or Copy of Form W-2
If the employer is unreachable or out of business, you can request a Wage and Income Transcript from the IRS through your online account or by mailing Form 4506-T. One catch matters for state filing: the transcript shows the federal W-2 data the employer reported to the Social Security Administration, but it does not include the state or local tax information from Boxes 15 through 20.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 159, How to Get a Wage and Income Transcript To file a state return, you’ll need to reconstruct the state wages and withholding from your final pay stub and report them on Form 4852.5Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement If your estimates turn out to be off once the real W-2 shows up, you’ll need to file an amended state return to correct them.