The Employee Withholding Certificate, commonly known as the Form W-4, is an IRS form used by an employer to withhold the correct federal income tax from an employee’s pay.
The 2020 version of the W-4 differed significantly from the prior versions of the form. The major difference is the focus on the employee’s expected tax situation for the year and the withholding allowances or exemptions are no longer a factor after 2019. However, where employees have not submitted the new form to their employers, the older versions of the form remain in effect. Employers may have to deal with two different withholding computation procedures.
IRS Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods, provides tax tables and worksheets to accommodate tax computations for both prior to 2020 W-4 Forms and 2020 and later W-4 Forms
Join this session by expert speaker Patrick Haggerty where he will discuss how employees should complete the 2021 W-4 Forms. You will also learn how to use the Publication 15-T tables and the IRS Income Tax Withholding Assistant for Employers to compute withholding using either the 2020 or 2021 Form W-4 information or the information from prior year W-4 Forms that are still in effect.
Session Highlights:
The legal requirement that the employer withholds income tax from employee compensation.
Information provided on the 2021-W-4 and how it is used.
2021-W-4 line by line.
How to compute withholding for the 2021-W-4 and year W-4 Forms still in effect.
How to use the Income Tax Withholding Assistant for Employers to facilitate manual computations
The new withholding tables – How and when to use them. Example computations.
The special instructions for non-resident aliens.
State withholding certificates.
When employees are required to revise W-4 Forms.
Requirements for electronic W-4 Forms.
Penalties for failing to withhold or deposit tax and reporting errors.
Record retention requirements – how long must an employer keep the forms.
A handout package containing several key documents will be provided
Why You Should Attend:
The current Form W-4 does not use withholding allowances, so the method for computing withholding has changed. Since existing employees who do not want to change their withholding amount may leave prior Forms W-4 – Withholding Allowance Certificate in effect indefinitely, payroll professionals will have to know how to use both withholding calculation methods.
Who Should Attend:
Payroll Professionals
Public Accountants
Payroll Service Providers
Tax Compliance Officers
Enrolled Agents
Public Accountants
Employee Benefits Administrators
Officers and Managers with Payroll or Tax Compliance Oversight
Company / Business Owners
Managers/ Supervisors
Public Agency Managers
Audit and Compliance Personnel
*You may ask your Question directly to our expert during the Q&A session.
** You can buy On-Demand and view it at your convenience.
Patrick Haggerty
Patrick Haggerty is a tax practitioner, author, and educator. His work experience includes non-profit organization management, banking, manufacturing accounting, and tax practice. He began teaching accounting at the college level in 1988. He is licensed as an Enrolled Agent by the U. S. Treasury to represent taxpayers at all administrative levels of the IRS and is a Certified Management Accountant. He has written numerous articles and a monthly question and answer column for payroll publications. In addition, he regularly develops and presents webinars and presentations on a variety of topics including Payroll tax issues, FLSA compliance, information returns, and accounting.