What are tax withholding forms?

There are three basic tax withholding forms for US payroll - Federal Tax Withholding (Form W-4), Work Location Tax Withholding and Residence Tax Withholding.

These forms are regularly updated based on the published changes available for Federal W-4 and State Tax Forms. These forms do not appear in the New Hire's onboarding flow when the work/residence address of the New Hire is other than USA.

How do you complete tax withholding forms?

Federal Tax Withholding 

Select one option in Step 1(c).

Fill out steps 2-4 if applicable. The tax withholding adjustments in Step 4 accept entering the amounts in decimals as shown below.

After completing the form, click the confirmation checkbox.

Click on "Electronically Sign".

If exemption from federal withholding is applicable, check the box under "Exemption from Federal Withholding" in Step 4. This will mask the fields of Step 3 (Claim Dependents) & Step 4 (Other Adjustments).

To complete the form, check the acknowledgement checkbox and click on the "Electronically Sign" button. 

If exempt is selected, the following error message displays when signing the form. Click on "Yes" to confirm the "EXEMPT" status. To go back to the previous page and update the tax data, click on "No" button.

After completing the activity, you can download the signed form by clicking on "Download Signed Forms" gadget provided at the right bottom corner of the page. 

State Tax Withholding

The information that needs to be entered varies depending on the state where the employee works or resides. Some states have their own version of the State Form W-4 while few others use the Federal Form W-4. Also, some states do not have income tax at all and so this activity does not show up in the New Hire's onboarding flow for the employees working/residing in those states. The states with no income tax are listed in the following sections.

Please click here to see the states that have state tax W-4 forms.

Work Location Tax Withholding

Based on the New Hire's work location state, the corresponding state's tax withholding form shows up in this activity.

In this example, the work state is taken as North Carolina and hence the North Carolina State form is displayed. The form contains the New Hire's personal information (Name, home address and Social Security Number) populated from the invitation data and Employee Information activity.

To complete the form the New Hire must enter all the information that applies to him/her. After entering the tax details, check the acknowledgement checkbox and click on "Electronically Sign" button.

After completing the activity, you can download the signed form by clicking on the "Download Signed Forms" icon provided on the bottom right corner of the page.

The printable format of the form displays as below:

Residence Location Tax Withholding

The information that needs to be entered varies depending on the state where the employee lives.  Also, if the employee's residence state does not have state income tax, or employee's residence state is same as the work state, this will not be seen in the New Hire's activity. For the list of states with no income tax, please check the following sections.

In this example, the residence state is taken as California. The New Hire must enter all the information that is applicable to him/her. 

If Filing Status is left blank, the following error message displays on the page.

Enter allowances or exemption whichever is applicable. If both are left blank the following error message displays on the page.

The allowances that are entered in 1a & 1b adds up to 1c. You cannot enter the value directly in 1c as the field is not editable. 

The value in 1a is required. If 1b is left blank, the value entered in 1a shows in 1c.

If invalid values are entered in 1a or 1b, then the following error message displays on the page.

'0' is also a valid entry in 1a.

If exemption is applicable, then select the check box #3 or #4.

If exemption from withholding (option #3 or #4) is selected, then the other fields (#1 & #2) will not be editable as shown below:

When exemption is entered, the following warning message displays on the page when electronically signing the form. Click "Yes" on the message to continue submitting the form.

In case, you want to navigate back and make changes to the form, click on the "No" option.

The following message confirms that your form is not saved and you can revise your form entries. Close the message and revise your entries.

Make changes to your entries as required, and then sign the form. If you have chosen option #3 or #4, you will once again see the confirmation message for tax exemption. Choose "Yes" to complete and continue to the next activity or "No" to go back to the form and make changes again.

The tax data entered on the tax forms can be edited until forms are submitted to HR. Before completing "Submit to HR" activity, you can revise the forms and edit them in case if corrections are needed.

To edit the forms, click on the "Edit" button located at the bottom of the respective form. For more details on editing the form, please refer to "Can you edit the tax forms that are already completed?" section.

When Residence/Work Location state is one of the territory states - Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa

The Federal and State taxes will be bypassed if the candidate's work or residence state belong to any of these three U.S. territory states - GU/VI/AS.

That means, if one of these territory states is selected in residence or work location address, then the Federal and State tax withholdings forms do not show in the payroll activities of the New Hire onboarding.

Note: If system is integrated with HRMS database, the tax data will not be pushed to HRMS database on system update for employees whose residence or work state is GU/VI/AS.

Few examples are given below:

Example 1: When Residence State = California, Work State = Guam

Example 2: When Residence State = U.S. Virgin Island, Work State = California

Example 3: When  Residence State = American Samoa, Work State = Guam

Example 4: When Residence State = Texas, Work State = Guam

Example 5: When Residence State = Virgin Islands, Work State = Florida

How to download Tax Withholding forms?

To download the unsigned attachment of the Tax Withholding form, click on the 'Download Document(s)' gadget provided at the right bottom corner of the page.

The form downloads in a new window as given below:

Once the form is electronically signed, it can be downloaded by clicking on the 'Download Signed Forms' gadget.

The signed form downloads in a new window as given below:

What are the states that do not have state income tax?

Given below are the list of states that have no state income tax:

• Alaska
• Florida
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Washington
• Wyoming
• Pennsylvania

The Work Location Tax Withholding / Residence Tax Withholding do not show in the New Hire's payroll activities for the employees working or residing in the above states.

If both residence and work location of the New Hire are from the above list with no state taxes, neither the Work Location Tax Withholding form nor the Residence Tax Withholding form will be included in the New Hire's process.

Example: Residence State = Texas, Work State = Florida

Only Federal Tax Withholding form is shown in the New Hire's payroll activities. State tax withholding forms are not available since there is no income tax for the residence and the work states.

If either the residence or the work location state of the New Hire has taxes, the corresponding Work Location Tax Withholding form or the Residence Tax Withholding form will be included in the New Hire's process.

Example: Residence State = California, Work State = Florida

In this example, as "California" is the residence state with state taxes, and the work state "Florida" has no state tax, only the Residence Tax Withholding form is accessible in the New Hire's process.

What are the states that use the Federal Form W-4 for state tax purposes?

The following US states use the Federal Form W-4 for the state income tax purposes:

• New Mexico
• North Dakota
• Utah
  

Note: Prior to year 2022, Colorado state also used Federal W-4 form for their state tax withholding. But year 2022 onwards, a new Colorado Employee Withholding Certificate (Form DR 0004) is available for Colorado state tax purpose. 

To access the above state tax forms, please click here.

Can you edit the tax forms that are already completed?

The completed tax forms are available for editing until the New Hire's process is submitted to HR. Before "Submit to HR" the candidate can revise the forms and edit them in case if corrections are needed.

Click on "Edit Form" button located at the bottom of the completed form.

This opens the form in edit mode. Make changes as required, click the checkbox to certify and click on "Electronically Sign".

If you want to retain the old values, click on "Cancel Edit" button. This will cancel the edit and display the completed activity page in read only mode.