Federal Withholding

The amount of income tax an employer withholds from your regular pay depends on two things:

This form includes three types of information that an employer uses to figure your withholding:

When do I use the Federal Withholding screen?

Complete the Federal Withholding form (Form W-4) so that your employer can withhold the correct federal income tax from your pay.  Events during the year may change your filing status or the exemptions that you expect to claim on your return.  If this happens, you may need to refigure the Federal Withholding form to provide your employer with the new information.   

Federal Withholding Information

If no current records exist, the table will not display.  Instead, the system will display an error message indicating that no current Federal Withholding information is on record.

Home Address

This non-editable field displays your home address (or mailing address, if your home and mailing addresses are the same).

If there is no address is on file, the system will display the following message: "Your address is missing or incomplete.  Please update your address."

Filing Status

Use the drop-down box to select your filing status.  Your selection determines the amount of tax withheld from your paycheck.  The options in the drop-down box are "Single" or "Married."

If the system has you recorded as "Exempt" from paying taxes, the system will display the following error message: "You are currently exempt from federal taxes.  In order to change your status, please see your Payroll Administrator."

Total Allowance

Enter the total number of federal exemptions that you wish to claim.  The value entered cannot be less than "0" or greater than "10."  The more allowances you claim on your Federal Withholding form, the less income tax the employer will withhold.  You will have the most tax withheld if you claim "0" allowances.

If you enter an amount that is less than "0," the system will display the following error message: "The Total Allowances cannot be a negative number.  Please enter another value."

If you enter an amount that is greater than "10," the system will display the following error message: "Please contact your Payroll Administrator if you wish to claim more than 10 allowances."

Additional Withholding

Use this field to enter an additional withholding (dollar) amount from your paycheck (in addition to the number of exemptions claimed in the Total Allowance field).  If you enter an amount, the system will display a confirmation message asking you to confirm the amount that you just entered.

If you enter an amount that is less than "0," the system will display the following error message: "The Additional Withholding cannot be a negative number.  Please enter another value."

Allowances Worksheet

You can use the Personal Allowances Worksheet to figure your withholding allowances.  The Personal Allowances Worksheet will assist you in calculating the number of withholding allowances that you are entitled to claim. Select the Allowances Worksheet button to open the worksheet.  Select each checkbox that applies and complete each appropriate edit box accordingly.  The system automatically calculates the Total Number of Allowances, using your entries.  Select the Use Allowances button to use the calculated amount to populate and return to the Total Allowance field in the Federal Withholding Information table on the Federal Withholding screen.  If you do not wish to keep the calculated total, you can select the Cancel button and return to the Federal Withholding Information table (without keeping the information from the Personal Allowances Worksheet).