W-2 Box 14: Other Compensation Explained — What Every Code Means

Of all the boxes on a W-2, Box 14 generates the most confusion at tax time. Unlike Boxes 1–13, which have fixed IRS-defined meanings, Box 14 is an open field — employers use it to report a wide range of compensation, benefits, and deductions that don't fit anywhere else. The label your employer uses might be cryptic shorthand, and whether it affects your tax return varies by what's actually being reported.

Here's a comprehensive breakdown of the most common Box 14 entries and what to do with them.

What Box 14 Is For

The IRS instructs employers to use Box 14 for "other information you may need to file your return." It's deliberately flexible. Employers report things like:

State and local tax-related items (especially state disability insurance)
Union dues
After-tax contributions to benefits plans
Specific types of equity compensation
Employer-paid benefits that have tax implications
FMLA, educational assistance, certain housing allowances

For many employees, Box 14 is blank or has one entry. For others — particularly public employees, union members, or executives with equity comp — it can have 3-5 separate line items.

State Disability Insurance (SDI / VPDI / SUI)

This is the most common Box 14 entry for employees in California, New York, New Jersey, and a handful of other states that collect employee-paid disability insurance premiums.

CA SDI / CA VPDI — California State Disability Insurance or Voluntary Plan DI. Employee-paid. Deductible on your federal return as a state tax if you itemize (Schedule A). Also used to calculate your CA tax return.
NY SDI — New York State Disability. Small amounts (typically $0.60/week, max $31.20/year). Deductible as state tax if itemizing.
NJ SDI / NJ FLI — New Jersey Disability and Family Leave Insurance. Deductible on federal if itemizing.
OR STT — Oregon Statewide Transit Tax. Required for Oregon employees.
WA PFML — Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave. Employee portion reported here.

If you itemize deductions, these state-mandated contributions may be deductible on Schedule A under state and local taxes — but note the $10,000 SALT cap.

Union Dues

Union dues paid through payroll deduction often appear in Box 14. Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, union dues are no longer deductible on federal returns for most employees (the miscellaneous itemized deduction was suspended through 2025). Some states still allow the deduction — check your state return instructions.

Employer-Paid Life Insurance Over $50,000 (GTL)

GTL (Group Term Life) in Box 14 represents the taxable cost of employer-provided life insurance coverage exceeding $50,000. This amount is already included in your Box 1 wages — you don't add it again. It's informational, telling you how much of your Box 1 wages came from this imputed income. Also appears in Boxes 4 and 6 for FICA purposes.

Equity Compensation

ISO — Incentive Stock Options exercised during the year. The spread at exercise is reported here for Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) purposes. This does NOT mean it's regular income — but if the amount is large, it could trigger AMT. Report it on Form 6251.
ESPP — Employee Stock Purchase Plan. The discount element is already in Box 1 wages. Box 14 shows the amount for your records when calculating cost basis on Form 8949.
RSU — Restricted Stock Units that vested. Fair market value at vesting is in Box 1. Box 14 may show the gross amount before withholding for reference.

Educational Assistance (EDUC / TUITION)

Employer-paid educational assistance up to $5,250/year is tax-free and excluded from Box 1. Amounts over $5,250 are included in Box 1 wages. Box 14 may show the total amount provided, which helps you verify whether you're over the exclusion limit.

Pretax Benefits Sometimes Reported Here

Health Savings Account (HSA) — Employer contributions to your HSA may appear in Box 12 Code W, but some employers also summarize in Box 14. Only Box 12 Code W is what matters for Form 8889.
Domestic partner benefits — If your employer provides benefits to a domestic partner who isn't your tax dependent, the imputed value is in Box 1 wages and also often called out in Box 14 so you know what's taxable.

FMLA / Paid Leave Programs

Some employers report the amount of state-paid family leave benefits in Box 14. Whether these are taxable depends on the state. California PFL benefits, for example, are taxable on federal returns but not CA state returns — Box 14 documentation helps you track this.

Housing Allowances (Clergy)

For clergy, housing allowances excluded from income are reported in Box 14 rather than Box 1. This is the only situation where Box 14 income is excluded from Box 1 — for all other entries, either the amount is already in Box 1 (informational) or it's a deduction/withholding (reduces your take-home, not in Box 1).

Do You Need to Enter Box 14 on Your Tax Return?

It depends on what the code means:

SDI/state disability → Enter if itemizing (Schedule A)
ISO spread → Form 6251 (AMT worksheet)
GTL → No action; already in Box 1
Union dues → Generally no federal action (deduction suspended)
Most other entries → Informational only; already reflected in Box 1 or other boxes

Tax software like TurboTax and H&R Block will prompt you to categorize Box 14 entries from a dropdown — select the closest match and let the software determine whether it affects your return.

Automating W-2 Box 14 Extraction

For payroll processors, tax preparers, and HR teams handling large volumes of W-2s, Box 14 entries add manual complexity — different employers use different codes for the same items. Tools like parsew2.com extract all W-2 boxes including Box 14 automatically from PDF W-2s, returning structured data with labeled fields for downstream processing.