This article reshares important information emailed last night and today to many OSD employees, and mailed today as a notification to those same employees at their home address, regarding an error discovered on their 2020 W-2. Only employees impacted by this error were sent an email and a notification to their home address. Note: The email sent via SchoolMessenger to employees impacted by this error requires them to open an attachment. It is safe to open this attachment.

For those impacted by this W-2 error, please note the following:

The district mailed you an original W-2 on January 31, 2021. The original W-2 data with respect to income is correct. 

However, on the original W-2, data in box 12 (employer paid health benefit) and box 14 (employee portion of health benefit) were incorrectly displayed. The mistake overstates the amount that the employee paid for health benefits and understates the amount that the employer paid. Therefore, this error affects only those who have already, or intend to itemize and deduct medical expenses on their 2020 tax return. Due to the high threshold for medical expense deductions in tax law, few people (about 2% nationally) itemize medical expenses. However, if you fall into this category of taxpayers the mistake may result in an overstated tax credit.  

We work very hard to ensure that the data we publish is accurate. In past years our staff calculated the data in boxes 12 and 14.  This year, our staff relied on School Employee Benefits Board (SEBB) and our payroll co-op’s calculation of this data. We should not have relied on these entities for that data but at the time felt that SEBB was actually the best source of information.

On February 19, 2021 we mailed you two copies of a W-2C. A W-2C is a correction to the original W-2. Do not destroy the original W-2. You will use both versions of the W-2 to file your taxes. You are receiving two copies of the W-2C as you will include one copy when you file your taxes and keep one for your records. (If you have already filed your 2020 tax return, do not re-file just to include the W-2C. See the table below.)

Please note, the incorrect W-2 was calculated for a subset of employees (generally full-time employees). Therefore, another member of your household that also works for our district may not be impacted by this correction.

For a more complete understanding of how the incorrect data could impact you, please see the table below:

As stated above, we have mailed copies of the W-2C to your home address. If you are working on your taxes now, and would like immediate access to the original W-2 and the new W-2C in Skyward, open this pdf for instructions. Both are available to you now in Skyward.

We sincerely apologize for the complication and inconvenience associated with this error, and will work to make the adjustments as easy on you as possible. Please do not hesitate to email w2correction@osd.wednet.edu so that we may connect you with the district’s tax attorney to help with this process or answer your questions. Or call Tonya Palmer, Payroll Supervisor, at 360-596-6189 for assistance.