Get NE 8-553-1997 2017-2023

The Treasury Department and the IRS are working to incorporate changes into the Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate, for 2020. The current 2019 version of the Form W-4 is similar to last year's 2018 version.

A Form W-4 remains in effect until the employee gives you a new one. If employees claim exemption from income tax withholding, they must give you a new Form W-4 each year.

According to the IRS, you have until the first payroll period ending on or after 30 days of receiving the form to make changes. Be sure to store the updated copy of Form W-4 in your records. When employees add or remove withholding allowances, you need to change payroll.

Withholding allowances do not expire, but an exemption from withholding does. Employees claiming exempt on W-4 must give you a new Form W-4 every year by the deadline for exemptions, February 15. To learn more about exemption from withholding, see Form W-4 and Publication 505.

The retention period for W-4 forms is a minimum of four years after the date that taxes were due or paid -- whichever date is later. This requirement applies not only to W-4 forms but to all employment tax records in an employer's possession. The four years is a minimum guideline.

Key Point: The due date for your 2018 Form 1040 is April 15, 2019, unless you live in Maine or Massachusetts, in which case your deadline is April 17, 2019. You can automatically extend your return to Oct. 15, 2019 by filing Form 4868 with the IRS on or before the applicable deadline.

The tax year you are filing for is usually the year prior to the year taxes are actually filed, which makes sense because the government needs to know what you earned between January 1 and December 31 on your tax return. For example, taxes prepared in March of 2019 would be for the tax year 2018.

During the tax filing season, many libraries and post offices offer free tax forms to taxpayers. Some libraries also have copies of commonly requested publications. Many large grocery stores, copy centers and office supply stores have forms you can photocopy or print from a CD.

If you need to file an individual federal tax return, you'll use IRS Form 1040, 1040EZ or 1040A.

Step 1: Your Information. ... Step 2: Your SSN. ... Step 3: Your Marital Status. ... Step 4: Name Changes. ... Step 5: Total Allowances.

According to IRS Publication 15, employers are to remind employees before December 1 each year to submit a new W-4 form if their withholding allowances have changed or will change for the next year.

Schedule 2 Use this if you need to report additional taxes owned such as the alternative minimum tax or taxes on other forms of income such as a child's unearned income from investments. ... That can include self-employment tax, uncollected Social Security taxes and additional taxes on IRA withdrawals.

Schedule 1 is for taxpayers with additional sources of income (not from a W-2) or adjustments to income, such as IRA contributions, student loan interest, and health savings account contributions. Schedule 2 is a form for people with some other forms of taxes, such as on a child's unearned income.

Rather than having an extremely long 1040 form that includes a host of information that many taxpayers never have to think about, the new forms move a lot of the detailed information to separate schedules. Schedule 2 is a short form that includes just a few lines.

Schedule 1, Additional Taxes and Adjustments to Income Taxpayers use this schedule to report income or adjustments to income that can't be entered directly on Form 1040. ... This also includes the student loan interest deduction, self-employment tax, or educator expenses.