Payroll Tax Withholding
Federal Taxes
The Federal W4 form determines the amount of federal tax withholding an employee has withheld from their paychecks. In response to tax adjustments made by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, employees will no longer be able to request adjustments to their withholding using withholding allowances. Instead of using allowances, the W-4 form now takes into account things like:
- Filing status (Married, Single, Head of Household, filing single vs. jointly etc.)
- Multiple jobs or spouse works
- Dependents - the new W4 form deducts a credit from your total tax witholding per child/dependant (if you want more taxes deducted now, you may want to NOT take this credit on your form)
- Other adjustments (Additional sources of income, itemized vs. standard deduction, tax credits)
If an employee wants to change has a change in marital status or wants to change the amount of Federal Tax withheld, the employee must complete a new Form W4. These requests must be received by the 16th day of any given month in order to affect the following month's paycheck.
Many employees are wondering why more federal taxes are not being withheld. For those who have been employed with Reliant prior to our payroll conversion, one of the reasons is that our new payroll system interprets the W4 form options differently than our previous system. But also, in general, the new W4 form is designed to withhold less. The other reason could be that the employee is using an outdated (prior to 2020) W4 and needs to submit the latest version. Reliant is not allowed to tell employees how to fill out their W4 form, but we can educate them on what happens with the options that they are able to choose.
For married couples, this option typically withholds less taxes (there's a higher threshold before taxes begin to be deducted):
- Option 1) - select married filing jointly. Our payroll software assumes the spouse is not working with this option and gives the full benefit of the standard deduction for 2 people and typically withholds a lower amount of taxes.
For married couples, these options below will in most cases ensure a higher amount is withheld:
- Option 2) - select the first box single/married filing separately. This does not affect how you will file your taxes at the end of the year, it is merely for the software to know how much taxes to withhold which is the standard deduction for 1 person.
- Option 3) - select married filing jointly and also check the box “multiple jobs”. This has the same effect as option 2 where it gives you the standard deduction for 1 person. It assumes two working people filing taxes with 2 incomes.
- Option 4) - select married filing jointly (but leave the box "multiple jobs" unchecked "as is" on their existing form) and then under section 4C add the specific monthly amount of extra withholding for federal taxes that you want to be deducted from each paycheck. However, please note that with this option, this tax amount will be deducted from every payment that is sent from Reliant, including separate backpay checks.
If claiming dependents (on STEP 3 of the form), the new W4 deducts a credit from your total tax withholding per child. Therefore, if the desired outcome is to allow for more taxes to be deducted per paycheck you may NOT want to take this dependent credit on your form.
Foreign Earned Income
To claim exemption from federal tax withholding due to Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or other qualified reasons, the W-4 instructions say write “Exempt” in the space below Step 4(c). Then, complete Steps 1a, 1b, 1c, and 5. Do not complete any other steps.
Use the button below to submit a new form.
One-Time Federal Tax Changes
In the case that an employee wants to make a one-time Federal tax change to a certain paycheck (without making a permanent change to their federal withholdings), the employee may send an email to payroll@reliant.org by the last day of any given month in order to affect the following month's paycheck. The email should be from the employee's @reliant.org email account and must clearly state how much money the employee would like withheld for the specific pay date.
For example, an employee could send an email stating "From my XX/XX/XXXX (Month/Day/Year) paycheck, please withhold $X (specify the dollar amount) in Federal taxes".
State Taxes
If an employee moves to a new state or plans to work in another state for more than three consecutive months, the employee must complete a State Withholding Allowance Certificate if the new state requires such a certificate. To notify Reliant of a move, please complete the Contact Info Change Form - US. Employment Services will reach out with any required forms based on your new address. Employees bear full responsibility to submit the certificate by the 16th day of the first month in which the employee is working in the new state.
To submit an updated state tax form if you have not moved, please email payroll@reliant.org with your request.
Local Taxes
Reliant only withholds local taxes when the Local Jurisdiction or State requires employers to withhold. Local taxes that are optional for the employer to withhold will not be withheld by Reliant and are the responsibility of the employee to report and file on their own behalf. If an employee lives in a locality with a required tax, the employee must notify Reliant of the local tax and submit the appropriate withholding form (if applicable) for Reliant to withhold taxes. Please do so by submitting the Contact Info Change Form - US. Employment Services will reach out with any required forms based on your new address. Employees bear full responsibility to submit the certificate by the 16th day of the first month in which the employee is working in the new locality.
End of Year W-2s and Tax Documents
- W-2's are sent according to IRS deadlines each year. They are delivered by mail and online through a third-party platform. See W2 Access for more details.
- 1095-B and 1095-C Forms
- 1099-SA and 5498-SA Forms - Domestic Medical Insurance
3 Comments
Barb Seckler
Sarah Swann - can we add the W4 link to the Payroll forms page
Mike Swann
Barb Seckler and Tonya Bartels - This page is called Taxes & W'2's. Should we change the title to "Taxes & W-4's"?
Barb Seckler
Mike Swannit discusses W2s at the bottom of the page. I can look at renaming if we want it to be more specific.