W2 from old employer - didn't work there in 2022?

[icyappraiser]

My wife received a 2022 W2 from an old employer. She left the company in November 2021, so she was not employed there at any time in 2022. The W2 is for a trivial amount of money (~$100) and had SS/Medicare tax withheld but not Federal or State Income tax.

She called the employee benefit center and they told her was it was related to a taxable HSA/FSA distribution but didn't give more info. She did have an HSA from that job that had some money left in it. She used up the rest of the money on medical expenses in 2022 before closing the account, but hadn't contributed to the account since 2020. She didn't have an FSA.

Any idea what this might be for? I'm not too worried about the tax owed, I just can't figure this one out and am trying to understand.

[MDM]

If she and you can't decipher it, she'll need to get something more specific than "related to"  some distribution.  E.g., the specific date, amount, and source of the distribution.

Up to her whether the time spent pursuing the reason is worth the tax saving if it is the employer's error.  Such errors are not unknown....

[SeattleCPA]

I would guess the employer is probably right. I.e., I bet there's more than a 50 percent chance.

And then I would think the tax impact is pretty small. If the W-2 is $100, maybe $10, $12... probably more likely $22 or $24.

Thus I was think practical approach is to just report the $100 of income and call that "good."

[reeshau]

If she left in November, did she have any severance or separation benefits that may have lasted into 2022?  Something like career counseling or job search help?

I got a W2 in 2021 for tax prep on 2020 taxes, as I was an ex-pat then.