What Is Box 19 on W-2: Local Tax Withheld, Reporting, and Fixes

Box 19 on your W-2 shows the total local income tax your employer withheld from your paychecks during the year and paid to a city, county, municipality, or school district. It is separate from your federal and state withholding. Not every W-2 has a figure here, because local income taxes exist in only about 15 states, but when the box is filled in, that number drives both your local tax return and, if you itemize, part of your federal deduction.

What the Number in Box 19 Represents

Local income taxes fund things like public schools, roads, and emergency response. Your employer calculates the withholding based on where you live, where you work, or both, depending on the local rules. Rates vary widely. Some jurisdictions charge under one percent of wages; others charge closer to four percent. A few localities charge a small flat dollar amount per pay period instead of a percentage.

If Box 19 is blank, your employer withheld nothing locally during the year. Usually that means you live and work somewhere without a local income tax. It does not automatically mean you owe nothing, which is covered further down.

How Boxes 18, 19, and 20 Fit Together

The three local-tax boxes should be read as a set:

Box 18 (Local wages): the portion of your earnings subject to local taxation.
Box 19 (Local income tax withheld): the dollar amount your employer deducted and sent to the local taxing authority.
Box 20 (Locality name): the name or code of the city, county, or school district that received the money.

You can sanity-check the numbers by dividing Box 19 by Box 18. The result should be close to the local tax rate for the jurisdiction named in Box 20. A meaningful mismatch is worth raising with your employer.

Why Box 18 May Not Match Box 1

Local wages in Box 18 often differ from federal wages in Box 1. Certain pre-tax deductions, such as retirement plan contributions or health premiums through a cafeteria plan, reduce federal taxable wages but may still count as taxable income under local rules. That can push Box 18 above Box 1. Before assuming there is an error, check how your locality treats those deductions.

When Box 20 Is Blank or Just a Code

Some employers put a numeric code in Box 20 instead of a locality name. If Box 19 has a dollar amount but Box 20 is blank or shows something you don’t recognize, ask your payroll department which jurisdiction received the tax. You need that answer to file your local return. If you cannot get a corrected W-2 and still need to file, the IRS lets you use Form 4852 as a substitute, but you have to explain how you calculated the amounts and what you did to try to get the correct W-2.¹

More Than One Locality on the Same W-2

Your W-2 may show more than one row of local information. Common reasons:

You worked in two different taxing jurisdictions during the year, and each gets its own line for the wages earned and taxes withheld there.
You moved mid-year from one taxing jurisdiction to another.
Your area imposes both a city income tax and a separate school district income tax, so each shows on its own line.

A single W-2 copy has room for two localities. If you worked in more than two, your employer will issue a second W-2 to capture the rest.²

A Blank Box 19 Is Not the Same as Owing Nothing

The most expensive mistake with Box 19 is assuming an empty box ends your local tax obligation. Your employer may not have withheld for several reasons: they may have no presence in your jurisdiction, they may not be required to withhold there, or your residency information on file may be out of date. In many jurisdictions, you still owe the tax even though nothing was taken out of your paychecks.

If you live or work somewhere that levies a local income tax, you generally have to file a local return by the April deadline, whether or not anything was withheld. If nothing was withheld, you pay the full amount when you file. Skipping the return can trigger penalties and interest from the local authority. Your city or county tax office can tell you whether you have a filing obligation.

Using Box 19 on Your Federal Return

If you itemize on Schedule A, the local income tax in Box 19 counts toward your state and local tax (SALT) deduction. It goes on line 5a alongside any state income tax withheld.³

The SALT deduction is capped. For 2026, the combined deduction for state and local income taxes, property taxes, and sales taxes is limited to $40,000 for most filers, or $20,000 if you are married filing separately. The maximum phases down for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income above $500,000 ($250,000 married filing separately), but it cannot fall below $10,000.³

If you take the standard deduction, Box 19 does not affect your federal tax. It still matters for your local return.

Using Box 19 on Your Local Return

Filing locally means transferring Boxes 18, 19, and 20 onto the city, county, or school district return. Tax software will usually prompt you to enter the values exactly as they appear on the W-2 and then calculate whether you owe more or are due a refund based on the local rate.

If too little was withheld, you owe the difference. If too much was withheld, you claim a refund on the local return. Report the Box 19 figure accurately either way. Local authorities can match your return against the withholding data your employer submitted, and gaps can produce notices, penalties, or interest. Keep the W-2 and any corrected versions in case a question comes up later.

Credits When Two Jurisdictions Tax the Same Income

If you live in one taxing jurisdiction and work in another, both may claim your income. Many jurisdictions handle this by giving a credit on your resident return for tax paid to the work jurisdiction. The credit is usually the lesser of the tax paid to the work locality or the tax your home locality would charge on the same income.

Claiming the credit generally means filing in both places and attaching proof of what you paid to the non-resident locality. Box 19 supplies the dollar figure and Box 20 identifies where it went, so lines for multiple localities on your W-2 also help you sort out which credit belongs where.

Fixing an Incorrect Box 19

If Box 19 is wrong, your employer should issue a corrected W-2 using Form W-2c. The IRS tells employers to file corrections as soon as they find an error and to get the corrected form to the employee promptly.⁴

If the employer will not issue a correction or you cannot reach them, file your local return with the figures you believe are right and attach Form 4852 as a substitute W-2. On the form, explain how you calculated the correct amounts and what you did to try to obtain a corrected W-2.¹

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement
2
Internal Revenue Service. 2026 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3
3
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 503, Deductible Taxes
4
Social Security Administration. Helpful Hints to Forms W-2c/W-3c Filing