CashoutGlossary / Form W-2
Form W-2
The yearly form your employer sends showing wages, reported tips and taxes withheld, which for 2026 also lists your tips in box 12, code TP.
Form W-2, the Wage and Tax Statement, is what each employer sends you after the year ends. Employers have until February 1, 2027 to give you your 2026 W-2.
The boxes tipped workers should check:
- Box 1: wages plus the tips you reported to your employer. Allocated tips are not included.
- Boxes 5 and 7: Medicare wages and tips, and Social Security tips.
- Box 8: allocated tips, assigned when the tips you reported were less than your share of 8% of food and drink sales. They are not in boxes 1, 3, 5 or 7, and you report at least that amount on Form 4137 unless your records show you got less.
- Box 12, codes A and B: Social Security and Medicare tax on tips your employer couldn't collect. You owe it with your return.
- Box 12, codes TP and TT, and box 14b: new for 2026. TP is the total cash tips you reported, TT is qualified overtime, and 14b holds your Treasury Tipped Occupation Code. They feed the No Tax on Tips and overtime deductions.
Common mistake: filing with a W-2 that's wrong. If TP is missing, box 14b shows only 000 for a job on the IRS list, or the numbers don't match your records, ask your employer for a corrected Form W-2c. If it still hasn't come by the end of February, the IRS can help at 800-829-1040.
Example: You were paid $6,000 in hourly wages and reported $22,000 in tips. Box 1 should show about $28,000, and box 7 and box 12 code TP should each show $22,000. If box 8 shows $3,000 of allocated tips, that $3,000 is not in box 1 and goes on Form 4137.
Related terms
Reported tips · Allocated tips · Form 4137 · Withholding and Form W-4 · Treasury Tipped Occupation Code (TTOC)
