What Does Box 12 Code Q Mean on a W-2?
Nontaxable combat pay. What it means, whether it is taxable, and what to do with it.
By the Easy Guides Editorial Team · Updated for 2026
Box 12 Code Q is nontaxable combat pay.
What Code Q means
Combat pay that is excluded from your taxable income.
Does Code Q affect my taxes?
It is not in your box 1 wages. It can still matter, because you may elect to include combat pay when calculating the Earned Income Credit, and doing so sometimes increases the credit.
What to do about it
Worth checking both ways if you claim the Earned Income Credit. Including combat pay helps some families and hurts others.
Where to find Code Q on your W-2
Look at box 12, in the middle-right of the form. It has up to four lines, labelled 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d. Those letters are only line labels. The code you want is the small letter or pair of letters printed next to the amount, and it will read Q. If you have more than four entries, your employer issues a second W-2 to carry the rest.
Not the code you were looking for? The full box 12 code list covers every letter, and the W-2 box decoder explains every box on the form.