IRS Releases 2026 Form W-2 With Changes Due to OBBBA

On January 9, the IRS released the 2026 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, with changes made due to Public Law 119-21, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The final version incorporates the anticipated changes made on the draft Form W-2 with some additional updates. The final instructions have not been released yet. A draft of the instructions is available.

What’s New

The 2026 Form W-2 now includes:

• New Box 12 codes. Box 12 has three new codes: TA – Employer contributions to a Trump account; TP – Total amount of cash tips reported to the employer; and TT – Total amount of qualified overtime compensation.
• Box 14 split. Box 14 is now split into 14a – Other and 14b – Treasury Tipped Occupation Code(s). Employers may use Box 14a to report information such as state disability insurance taxes withheld, union dues, uniform payments, health insurance premiums deducted, nontaxable income, or educational assistance payments.

Employers will use Box 14b to report up to two Treasury Tipped Occupation Codes for an employee’s tipped occupation. These codes will be used to determine whether the employee is in an occupation eligible for the deduction for qualified tips (reported in Box 12 with Code TP).

More Information

PayrollOrg will provide information to members as soon as the guidance is available. Check the OBBBA Payroll Hot Topics page for the latest updates.

To learn more about federal and state laws, regulations, and information to keep your company's payroll operations in compliance, check out Payroll Source Plus!

Jyme Mariani, Esq., is Director of Payroll Information Resources for PayrollOrg.