In order to claim exemption from state income tax withholding, employees must submit a W-4 or DE-4 certifying that they did not have any federal tax liability for the preceding year and that they do not anticipate any tax liability for the current taxable year.
Claiming exempt from withholding on your taxes is generally only appropriate if you meet specific criteria. If you claim exempt and later find that you owe taxes at the end of the year, you could face penalties and interest on any unpaid taxes.
Ing to the IRS Tax Topic 751 on withholding, to claim exempt, you must have had no federal income tax liability last year and expect to have no federal income tax liability this year.
Exemption from withholding An employee can also use Form W-4 to tell you not to withhold any federal income tax. To qualify for this exempt status, the employee must have had no tax liability for the previous year and must expect to have no tax liability for the current year.
You can claim either 0 or 1 on your W-4. It won't create problems with the IRS, it will just determine how much you'll get back on your tax return next year. If you claim 0, you will get less back on paychecks and more back on your tax refund.
Because claiming Exempt has a clearly falsifiable attestation (that you had no tax liability in the prior year), it is generally a Bad Idea to falsely claim Exempt.
Basically -- you cannot completely stop your employer from withholding ALL taxes. You can usually REDUCE the amount that is withheld, by filling out a brief simple one page form that you have already filled out (a W-4 form ) and handing it to your boss. But, you cannot reduce that amount to zero...
If an employee qualifies for exemption from withholding, the employee can use Form W-4 to tell the employer not to deduct any federal income tax from wages. This applies only to income tax, not to Social Security or Medicare tax.
In general, if a person expects to have no tax liability, claiming exempt from federal withholding is usually a good idea. For an individual who can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's income tax return, this generally means the person's earned income is less than $12,400 during the year.
How to fill out a W-4 Step 1: Enter your personal information. Fill in your name, address, Social Security number and tax filing status. Step 2: Account for multiple jobs. Step 3: Claim dependents, including children. Step 4: Refine your withholdings. Step 5: Sign and date your W-4.