The IRS launched the new W4 form in January 2020 and with this new form there were some major revisions that took place. The main objective of the new form is to accurately withhold the correct amount of income taxes for the employee. Here is a simple step-by-step guide to assist you and your employees in making sure the form is complete.

The below steps are in correlation with the Form W4:

Step 1: Personal Information. Enter your name, address, Social Security number and tax-filing status. The tax filing status choices are: Single or Married filing separately, Married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er), Head of household (employees should only check head of household if they are unmarried and pay more than half of the costs of keeping up a home for yourself and a qualifying individual).

Complete steps 2-4 ONLY if they apply.

Step 2: Multiple jobs or Spouse Works. If the employee has multiple jobs at one time or are married filing jointly and your spouse also works. The IRS provides an estimator tool on their website at www.irs.gov/W4App for the most accurate withholding for steps 2-4. The W4 form also has the multiple jobs worksheet on page 3 and this information would be entered in Step 4©.

Step 3: Claim Dependents. This is the section that we receive the most questions on. Allowances are no longer the factor in claiming dependents, it’s now a calculation but only if your total income will be $200,000 or less ($400,000 or less if married filing jointly) then complete this section.

            Multiply the number of qualifying children under age 17 by $2,000.00.

            Multiply the number of other dependents by $500.00.

Total up the amounts and that dollar amount will be entered in step 3.

Step 4: (optional) Other adjustments. This section is for other income not from jobs, if you plan to claim deductions other than the standard deduction, or you would like extra withholding taken out of the paycheck.

Step 5: Sign and date the form.

Employers will enter their name and address, first date of employment and employer identification number (EIN).

Some final items to keep in mind are status changes to employees, such as getting married, having a baby, or getting a divorce. These changes constitute an employee filling out a new Form W4 to keep their withholding information up to date.