Question

Employer put my W2 through PA instead of DE, what are my next steps?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
April 5, 2021
1 reply
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Hey, people who are much better at math than I am!

I worked for the Census Bureau in 2020. I got my W2's. I got 2 of them. It took me a bit to figure out but eventually I got that one was DE and one was PA. While I was working on submitting my taxes yesterday, I contacted my Census Boss for confirmation. They had someone from the office call me, and say "Wait, that's not how those should read! Those should strictly be DE, not PA and Philly!" Which means I need to fix my submission. But I'm not sure how. My state returns haven't gone through yet. Even if I was able to stop them, how do I put the correct data in? I mean obviously, don't put the wrong data in again, but what is the right number? Do I contact Pennsylvania and Philly and ask for correction / money back? Or will that straighten out automatically when my DE return doesn't go through?

Help!

TurboTax Free Edition Online

E

ErnieS0

Things will not straighten out automatically with the filing of the Delaware return. If you have a W-2 with Pennsylvania and Philadelphia tax withheld, it means those payments were sent to Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Usually the employer can't get those back. You'll have to file a PA tax return and possibly a Philly wage refund petition.

I don't quite understand your situation. Do both your W-2s show your total federal income and different state amounts (one for DE and one for PA)? Or are they split? For example, do both W-2s show $1,000 in federal income and ~$1,000 in state/city income or do you have $500 on one and $500 on the other?

If your W-2s have duplicate federal wages, you can file a nonresident PA return and put down $0 wages to get your PA withholding back. Submit a legible photocopy of your two Form W-2s, and a SIGNED COPY of the Delaware return that you filed/will file (without the supporting forms and schedules), and a statement explaining the U.S. Census made a mistake.

If your wages are split, you can do the same, but you should verify that you are reporting all your Census income on the DE return.

For Philadelphia, the Census can file a mass refund petition if this is a big problem, but you will probably have to file an individual wage refund petition. This has to be signed by your employer (the Census).

2020 Wage Tax refund petition (salaried employees)

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padkins35Author

Hi, sorry it's been a bit.

Both W2's show the same amount.

Re: signed form, what if I finished it electronically here on turbotax?

Any idea what adjustments need to be made to the DE tax form with new data? AKA what do I need to do before I print and sign the DE return, that I then include a copy of? Will the one previously prepared referencing the PA tax be appropriate?

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AmyC

Employee

If the issuer agreed that the forms were wrong, are they sending out corrected forms?

If not, then you will need to amend returns after everything is settled from the original filing. You will want a full refund from PA.

Since DE has already taxed the money, you don't need to file an amended return with them. If PA refuses to give you a credit, then you can file for a credit with DE based on tax paid to PA.

Once your original return is accepted and the finances are settled, you can file an amended return.

Save a copy of the original return before doing an amended return. See:
Track amended return status online. Taxpayers can track the status of their amended tax return in English and Spanish using Where’s My Amended Return? Amended returns take up to 16 weeks to process and up to three weeks from the date of mailing to show up in the system.