Important reminders for completing your 2005 Forms W-2
Here are ways to avoid the most frequent mistakes made on W-2s. For a box-by-box guide on how to complete the 2005 Form W-2, see the forthcoming January 2006 issue of The General Ledger (www.aipb.org/general_ledger.html) our members' free monthly technical update, yours free upon joining.

• Box d. Employee’s SSN. If one was applied for but not received, enter “Applied for.” If you file magnetically or electronically, enter 000-00-0000.
  
  
• Box e. The employee’s name must appear exactly as it appears on the Social Security card or W-4. Do not change a name until you see a new Social Security card. Omit titles, suffixes (Mr., Ms., Mrs., III, Jr., Sr.) and academic degrees (R.N., Dr., M.D.). Use a hyphen in compound surnames (Smith-Jones), even if there is no hyphen on the SS card. Connect O’, D’, etc., with an apostrophe or join to the name (e.g., O’Brian or OBrian).
  
  
• Important. Make sure that third parties filing third-party sick pay recap forms W-2 enter “Third-Party Sick Pay Recap” here in place of the employee’s name.
  
  
• Box 3. Total wages subject to Social Security tax excluding tips (actual and allocated). Include applicable Box 12 items (Codes D, E, F, G, S), elective and nonelective deferrals to §457 plans, MSA employee’s and non-excludable employer contributions, employee’s contributions to a SIMPLE retirement account, adoption benefits, and former employee group term-life over $50,000. Box 3 + Box 7 should not exceed $90,000.
  
  
• Box 12. The IRS has postponed Code Y and Z information for 2005. If you use the paper W-2, you cannot have more than 4 items (magnetic and electronic media can have more); omit dollar signs and commas. You may report veterans’ “makeup” deferrals here with appropriate code and year that the deferrals relate to; or give this data in a separate statement showing the type of plan, year it relates to and the amount.