{"id":69672,"date":"2026-07-24T16:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?p=69672"},"modified":"2026-07-24T16:01:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:01:20","slug":"understanding-form-w2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/videos\/understanding-form-w2\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding your W-2 form"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you\u2019re working as an employee, you should receive a W-2 form from your employer. But it can be complicated to read with its many boxes and box codes. If you&#8217;re wondering &#8220;how to read a W-2?&#8221;, or &#8220;what is box 12 on my W-2?&#8221;, you&#8217;re not alone. Put simply, Form W-2 is a wage and tax statement that reports your wages and the taxes withheld from your wages. You should receive your W-2 from your employer by January 31 each calendar year to be filed with your other tax documents. Don&#8217;t worry if you&#8217;re not sure what&#8217;s on this document, we&#8217;re here to help break it down for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/irs\/forms\/understanding-w-2-boxes-and-codes\/\">Form W-2 Box codes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ready to file taxes? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/filing-options-and-products\/\">Get started with H&amp;R Block<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re working as an employee, you should receive a W-2 form from your employer. But it can be complicated to read with its many boxes and box codes. If you&#8217;re wondering &#8220;how to read a W-2?&#8221;, or &#8220;what is box 12 on my W-2?&#8221;, you&#8217;re not alone. Put simply, Form W-2 is a wage [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":69620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[23475],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-videos"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Understanding Your W-2 Form (Video) | H&amp;R Block<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover what information is reported on Form W-2, what the different boxes mean, and how to use it when filing taxes. 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