Why are there no federal income taxes taken out of my check?
Every so often a driver may ask you about the taxes or lack of taxes taken from their paycheck. Often, it happens when they get their taxes done and owe some money to Uncle Sam. So why is their federal income tax withheld so low?
It very likely starts with how they completed the W-4 form.
At the beginning of 2020, the IRS modernized the form to reflect things like people working multiple jobs and the child tax credit. Before that, many people used to just add or subtract dependents to compensate for other tax issues like the child tax credit or other non-wage income. But the changes to the W-4 also made the form more complex. So, it is very possible that the driver filled out the form incorrectly.
We do not recommend that the payroll office offer advice on how to complete the form.
If there is a miscommunication, the driver may blame you if they owe money next year. Instead, we suggest that the driver or other employee talk to their tax advisor about properly completing the form. The tax advisor will know the employee’s whole tax situation and can best advise the employee on how to proceed.
If the employee wants a DIY resource, we recorded a webinar on how to complete the form and it can be found here. We hope this helps answer any questions about the form they have.
Again, we do not recommend that the payroll office offer advice on how to complete the form.
Written by Mike Ritzema
With over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, management, business planning, financial analysis, software engineering, operations, and decision analysis, Mike has the breadth and depth of experience needed to quickly understand entrepreneurs’ businesses and craft the most suitable solutions.
[form id="8639" /]