Form W-4 - How to Complete?
The IRS has completely redesigned the
Form W-4 "Employee's Withholding Certificate"
for employees who are hired on or after January 1, 2020 OR for employees
who were hired before year 2020 AND are making a change to their existing
Form W-4.
NOTE: If you were hired prior to January 1, 2020 and are not making any changes to your existing Form W-4, you are NOT required to use the NEW version of Form W-4. Your withholding will be based on your marital status and number of allowances you are claiming.
You no longer claim "number of allowances" on the NEW Form W-4 such as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Instead, federal income tax withholding will now be based on your anticipated filing status (single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household or qualifying widow(er), your taxable wages and your payday frequency (examples: weekly, bi-weekly, monthly).
The Form W-4 contains "5 Steps". However, ONLY Step 1 and Step 5 are REQUIRED to be completed.
Step 1 - Personal Information - Name, Address,
SSN and Filing Status
Step 5 - Signature and Date Under Penalties of Perjury
Steps 2, 3 and 4 are OPTIONAL. If you wish to have additional OR less federal income tax withheld, you can complete the Steps that apply to you. If you prefer receiving a tax refund when you file your tax return, you may need to enter an amount in Step 4, Line 4(c).
We HIGHLY SUGGEST you use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator Calculator to more accurately complete these other steps. The IRS calculator is relatively simple to use and will generate a pre-printed Form W-4 with the calculated amounts.
Click Here to Access the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator Calculator
