W-4 form changes?

Question

A fellow employee at work wants to change her W-4. The person who does payroll says she can't. Where can I find information to prove to the payroll person that she indeed can?

Answer 1

From the IRS website, tax topic 753.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc753.html

"You should keep blank Forms W–4 for the current year on hand so you can provide them to your current and new employees. An employee may want to change the number of withholding allowances or his or her martial status on Form W–4 for any number of reasons, such as marriage, an increase or decrease in the number of dependents, or an increase or decrease in the amount of itemized deductions or tax credits anticipated for the tax year. Any of these reasons could affect the employee's tax liability. If you receive a revised Form W–4 from an employee, you must put it into effect no later than the start of the first payroll period ending on or after the 30th day from the date you received the revised Form W–4, assuming there is no lock-in letter in effect. "

Answer 2

The Form W-4 asks about "allowances", not dependents. For example, you can claim one "allowance" for yourself if no one else can claim you as a dependent AND one "allowance" for being either (a) a single person with only one job or (b) married to a person who does not have any income. Therefore, if this is your only job and you are not married to a person with a job, then you can claim at least two, legitimately. If you claim a ridiculous number, such as 11, then it will be a problem. If you claim 3-8, the number does not have to be accurate. However, if the amount withheld does not come to within either $1000 or 10% of your tax for the year (in other words, if you have to pay the IRS more than $1000 when you file), then there is a penalty. If you are entitled to a refund or owe only a small amount (under $1000), then there is no penalty. (The preceding two sentences assume that you are not making "estimated" tax payments; if you are, then the calculation of whether you owe a penalty is different.)

Answer 3

It also sounds like you might want to tell your boss that the payroll clerk needs some updated education....because the w-4 is telling the employer that it is ok to withhold federal and state taxes from the paycheck and it is up to the employee when they want to change it.

Answer 4

hr