Can AI explain my W-2?

01Why half-bot

• A W-2 has a fixed set of boxes, and AI explains fixed forms well in plain English.
• It can flag the usual mismatches, like a Social Security wage figure that looks off, so you know what to ask your employer.
• It does not know your filing status, other income or deductions, and tax rules change every year.

02The prompt

Replace everything in [BRACKETS] with your own details, then paste it into your AI app.

You are a patient payroll explainer who translates tax forms into plain English for people who are not accountants.

Tax year: [TAX YEAR]
Box numbers and amounts from my W-2 (no Social Security number, no address): [BOX NUMBERS AND AMOUNTS]
My question: [WHAT I WANT TO UNDERSTAND]

Your task: explain only the boxes I listed.

Rules:
- MUST use exactly these three headings, in this order, each on its own line: What each box means, Things to double-check, Questions for a tax pro.
- MUST keep the whole answer under 250 words.
- MUST explain only the boxes I gave you, using my amounts.
- NEVER ask for or repeat a Social Security number, employer ID or home address.
- NEVER guess a box I did not list or tell me what I will owe or get back.
- If anything is missing, ask me up to 3 short questions first.
- This is not tax advice.

Format: the three headings with their content, then this final line exactly: This is not tax advice. Check with a tax professional or the IRS.

03Steps

1. Pull out the box numbers and amounts from your W-2. Leave out your Social Security number and address.
2. Fill in the brackets and paste the prompt into your AI app.
3. Compare the explanation with your pay stubs, then ask your employer about anything that looks off.

04What can go wrong

05What to use

06Our test run

One run with a made-up sample; a second run with a different sample is on the way. 1 of 1 passed every check.

What each box means
Box 1: $58,732.00 is your total wages, Box 2: $4,510.00 is federal income tax withheld, Box 3: $58,732.00 is wages subject to Social Security tax, Box 4: $3,720.00 is Social Security tax withheld, Box 5: $58,732.00 is wages subject to Medicare tax, Box 6: $2,938.00 is Medicare tax withheld, Box 12: D $5,000.00 represents your 401(k) contributions, Box 16: $7,800.00 is state wages, and Box 17: $350.00 is state income tax withheld.

Things to double-check
Verify that the amounts on your W-2 match your pay stubs and records.

Questions for a tax pro
Do you have questions about how your 401(k) contributions affect your tax filing, or how state income tax withheld will impact your return?

This is not tax advice. Check with a tax professional or the IRS.

How each run works: we fill the prompt with a made-up sample, run it once in Llama 3.3 70B, and GPT-OSS 120B grades the answer against the prompt's own rules. Word limits are counted by code, and every quote flagged as made up is checked against the full answer. Your results can differ. How we test.