What counts as qualifying wages?

Usually the amounts in the Medicare wage box of the W-2s are the qualifying wages effective January 1, 2004 . Qualifying wages for the municipality includes wages defined in Section 3121(a) of the IRS code plus any amounts not included in the Medicare wage due to some Medicare exemptions (e.g. government employees employed by an entity prior to April 12, 1986 ). Previously, the taxable wage was the gross wage prior to any deductions and included cafeteria plans (e.g. 125 plans) that are not included in the Medicare wage.