Information for IRS Tax Form W-4

The purpose of Tax Form W-4 is simple ? it is used by your employer to withhold the proper amount of federal income tax from your paycheck. The IRS recommends that employees submit a new W-4 tax form each year, or any time their personal or financial situation changes. Of course, this is required upon being hired.

IRS Tax Form W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate)

The steps for completing Tax Form W-4 are easier than most taxpayers believe. They include the following:

1. Obtain a copy of Tax Form W-4 from your employer or download it from the IRS website. If you download online, you can fill in your information before printing and signing.

2. Provide your correct name, address, and social security number. It is essential that this information is 100% accurate.

3. Depending on your marital status and filing status, you will either check the box for ‘single’ or ‘married.’

4. Do you know how many withholding allowances you should claim? If not, you can use Tax Form W-4 to help calculate this number. In most cases, this is the same as your number of personal exemptions.

5. You do not have to rely on your personal exemptions to determine your withholding allowances. For instance, if you have more than one job, if your spouse works, or if you itemize deductions, you may want to closely calculate your number of allowances to ensure that you are making the right decision.

6. Do you have more than one job? If so, you should claim zero for withholding when filling out Tax Form W-4 for your second employer. But remember, being exempt is not the same as claiming zero withholding. When you claim zero, the highest possible amount of taxes will be withheld from each paycheck.

7. If you decide to claim more than nine allowances, your employer will have to send your tax form to the IRS for review.

8. Sign your W-4 tax form to make it valid.

Once you give Tax Form W-4 to your employer, they will complete Lines 8, 9, and 10 and finish the process from there.

No matter if you are starting a new job or just want to change your withholding allowances, you need to become familiar with Tax Form W-4. Every employee must fill out this tax form and submit it to their employer. This way, they are able to withhold the proper amount of taxes from each paycheck.

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