If an employee passes away and their spouse receives a vacation payout, how does this affect their W-2 earnings?

When an employee passes away and their spouse receives a vacation payout, it is essential to understand how this affects the reporting of earnings on the W-2 form. The correct answer indicates that for the spouse’s W-2, Box 1 will reflect a total of $77,076.80. This amount includes the spouse’s regular earnings plus the additional vacation payout.

The calculation for Box 1, which reports wages, tips, and other compensation taxable to Federal income tax, encompasses all forms of compensation the employee entitled to, including the vacation payout. Thus, with the vacation payout included, the total earnings reflected in Box 1 are adjusted upward to account for this additional compensation.

In contrast, Boxes 3 and 5, which report Social Security and Medicare wages, will show a different total, representing the taxable compensation before the vacation payout was considered (in this case, $77,076.80). This discrepancy happens because certain amounts like the vacation payout may not be subject to social security or Medicare taxes or could have different caps applied.

Therefore, the correct answer effectively shows the impact of the vacation payout on the taxable income reported in Box 1 while leaving other compensation fields consistent with only regular earnings.