Wages

Tax Data

The Tax Data section of your pay statement shows what you've claimed on your Form W-4:

  • Your marital status
  • Number of tax allowances
  • Additional amounts you've chosen to have withheld from your paycheck

The state shown on the top line will be Minnesota, unless you've completed a MW-R reciprocity agreement form for Michigan or North Dakota, or you live and work in another state where the University is registered to withhold tax—California, Colorado, Illinois, Washington, or Wisconsin. Then that state will be indicated.

Marital Status

Your W-4 will show one of three categories of marital status:

  1. Single
  2. Married
  3. Married, but withhold at the higher Single rate

If you've chosen category 1 or 3, your taxes are calculated at the Single rate. Category 2 is calculated at the Married rate. Here is how the marital status categories appear in the Tax Data section of your pay statement:

What You Claim on Your W-4

Federal Description

Minnesota State Description

Single

Single

Single; Married, but legally separated; or spouse is a nonresident alien

Married

Married

Married

Married, but withhold at higher Single rate

Single

M – S rate

Allowances

The number of allowances you claim on your W-4 determines how much tax is withheld from your pay. The more allowances you claim, the less tax that is withheld. See the Form W-4 page for information on how to determine the number of allowances you should claim.

Addl. Percent and Addl. Amount

In addition to withholding based on the allowances you claim, you can choose to have more taxes taken out of your paycheck, either as a percentage of your pay or a flat dollar amount. The amount you've chosen will be shown on the Addl. Percent or Addl. Amount lines.

 

Hours and Earnings

Description: The type of pay you are receiving. This area may also include any augmentations, one-time awards, or other forms of compensation.

Rate: Your hourly rate of pay (this column appears only for employees paid hourly).

Hours: For those who are paid hourly, this column shows the number of hours you are being paid for during this pay period. It is blank for salaried employees.

Earnings: The gross amount you have been paid this pay period, for the type of pay shown under Description.

YTD Hours: The total number of hours you have been paid for the year to date, for the type of pay shown under Description.

YTD Earnings: The total amount you have been paid for the year to date, for the type of pay shown under Description. 

Types of Earnings

Definitions of Earnings: To learn more about a type of pay listed under Description, see the full list of Earning Type Definitions.

Taxable Fringe Benefits: Taxable fringe benefits are not included in the Hours and Earnings section under Earnings or YTD Earnings. However, they are included in the Fed Taxable Gross, shown in the Totals section near the bottom of your pay statement.

Some of those fringe benefits provided by the University—such as cars, free tickets, and graduate-level tuition assistance—are taxable. For a list of these taxable benefits, see the Taxable Fringe Benefits Descriptions page.

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Taxes

This section shows the amount of taxes deducted from your pay, both for the current pay period and the calendar year to date (YTD).

Here is what the descriptions mean:

Fed Withholding: Federal income taxes
Fed Med/EE: Federal Medicare tax for employees
Fed OASDI/EE: Federal Old Age Survivor's Disability Insurance (Social Security) tax for employees
Fed 1042: Federal withholding for nonresident aliens
MN (or other state) Withholding: State income taxes

 

Before-Tax and After-Tax Deductions

Before-tax deductions from your pay reduce your taxable wages. Some before-tax deductions will reduce your federal and state, or W-2, wages, while others will also reduce your Social Security and Medicare wages.

After-tax deductions do not reduce your taxable wages. They are taken only after taxes have been withheld from your taxable wages.

This section of your pay statement shows:

Description: The type of deduction being withheld.
Amount: How much is being deducted, both from the current pay period and the calendar year to date (YTD).

Types of Deductions

Before-tax Deductions

These deductions are not subject to federal and state income taxes:

  • 457 Deferred Compensation Plan: Tax-deferred retirement savings and investment plan
  • Faculty Retirement Plan: The required retirement plan for faculty and for Professional and Administrative employees
  • Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS): The required retirement plan for civil service and bargaining unit employees
  • Local 880 Health & Welfare
  • Optional Retirement Plan: Voluntary retirement savings and investment plan
  • Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA): Required retirement plan for University of Minnesota Police Officers
  • Thrift Savings Plan: A 401K plan for federal employees

These deductions not subject to federal and state income tax withholding, or to Social Security and Medicare withholding:

  • Parking
  • Metropass
  • Medical
  • Federal Medical
  • Dental
  • Flexible Spending Accounts:
    • Health Care Reimbursement
    • Dependent Care Reimbursement
    • University of Minnesota Physicians Medical Reimbursement
    • University of Minnesota Physicians Dependent Reimbursement

After-tax Deductions

After-tax deductions include, but are not limited to:

  • Union dues
  • Life insurance
  • Community Fund Drive
  • Recreational sports permit
  • Athletic tickets
  • Disability insurance
  • Long-term care insurance
  • Northrop Dance Series
  • Garnishments (see below)

For more information about a particular deduction, contact the appropriate area, such as Employee Benefits, Parking and Transportation Services, Recreational Sports, Department of Athletics, or Northrup Concerts & Lectures. For information about Community Fund Drive deductions, contact Payroll Services.

Garnishments

Garnishments are court-ordered deductions from an employee's pay. Payroll Services is required to make deductions to satisfy a child support order, tax debt, or court judgment. The most common types of garnishments are:

  • Creditor garnishment: A legal order to withhold part of an employee's wages to satisfy a debt to a creditor
  • Child support withholding: A withholding due to a child support order from a court or state child support enforcement agency
  • Tax levy: A deduction to satisfy a federal or state tax debt. Tax levies must be withheld before all other garnishment orders except child support.
  • Bankruptcy orders: These garnishments, issued under Chapter XIII of the Bankruptcy Act, take priority over other wage claims, including tax levies and child support orders received before the bankruptcy. All other garnishments are stopped because the trustee will pay them under the bankruptcy order.
  • Student loans: In 1991, Congress allowed garnishment of wages to repay delinquent student loans from the Federal Family Education Loan Program or Guaranteed Student Loan Program. Child support orders take priority over student loan garnishments.

 

Employer-Paid Benefits

This section shows the University's contribution toward the cost of your benefits. None of the employer-paid benefits are deducted from your pay.

Description: The type of benefit being paid by the University. These can include:

  • Medical UM
  • UPlan Dental
  • Basic Employee Life
  • Basic Employee Life*
  • Additional Employee Life*
  • Child Life Insurance*
  • Faculty Income Disability
  • Faculty Retirement Plan
  • Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS)

Current: The amount paid by the University for the current pay period

YTD: The total paid by the University since the beginning of the year

*Taxable: Employer-paid benefits with an asterisk (*) are taxable and subject to federal, state, Social Security, and Medicare tax withholding. These amounts are added to your Taxable Gross (see Understanding Taxable Gross) for withholding purposes. For example, the value of employer-provided group-term life insurance (Basic) over $50,000 is considered a taxable benefit. It is added to your taxable wages and reported on your Form W-2.

 

Totals

The Totals section, near the bottom of your pay statement, shows your total pay and deductions for both the current pay period and the year to date (YTD). 

Total Gross: Your total gross pay (from the "Hours and Earnings" section of your pay statement).  Note: Taxable fringe benefits are not included in gross earnings.

Fed Taxable Gross: The amount used to calculate your income taxes. Your taxable gross wages may be less than your gross earnings because some of your gross pay was not taxable. See Understanding Taxable Gross below for more details.

Total Taxes: The total taxes withheld from your pay.  It includes federal and state withholdings.

Total Deductions: The total of both your before-tax deductions and after-tax deductions withheld from your pay.

Net Pay: Your gross earnings minus your total taxes and total deductions equals your net pay.

 

Understanding Taxable Gross

Your federal taxable gross is shown in the Totals section near the bottom of your pay statement. It is the amount that will show in Box 1 on your W-2. Your federal taxable wages are determined by the following calculation.

1. Start with Total Gross (Totals section)

2. Add Taxable Fringe Benefits (Hours and Earnings section)

  • Taxable fringe benefits are not included in the Total Gross, so you must add them to your Total Gross pay. If you have taxable fringe benefits, they will be listed in the Hours and Earnings section of your pay statement.
  • Taxable Fringe Benefits include, but are not limited to:
    • Regents Scholarship tuition benefit
    • Car leasing benefit
    • Gift cards
    • Moving expenses

 

3. Add Taxable Employer-Paid Benefits

  • Taxable employer-paid benefits are noted with an asterisk (*) in the Employer-Paid Benefits section of your pay statement. They are subject to federal, state, Social Security, and Medicare tax withholding.
  • The value of employer-provided group-term life insurance over $50,000 is considered a taxable benefit that is added to your taxable wages and reported on your Form W-2.

 

4. Subtract Before-Tax Deductions Total

  • Before-tax deductions will reduce your federal and state taxable gross wages, and some will also reduce your Social Security and Medicare wages.
  • Before-tax deductions include, but are not limited to:
    • Faculty Retirement Plan
    • Minnesota State Retirement System
    • Optional retirement plan
    • Medical and dental
    • Parking

 

5. Equals Federal Taxable Gross

 

Leave Balances

Balance: The number of hours you have available are shown for vacation, sick leave, and comp time. 

More Information

You can check your leave balances anytime. Go to the My Time tab in MyU to see the hours you have available for:

  • Vacation
  • Sick leave
  • Comp time
  • Personal holiday

Visit the Vacations and Leaves web page for more detailed information (including union contract rules) on:

  • Vacation and sick leave
  • University holiday calendars
  • Family and medical leave
  • Jury duty and court appearances
  • And much more 

 

Net Pay Distribution

This section shows your net pay and the accounts to which pay has been directly deposited. This may include more than one account. Advice # refers to the check number.