How to check and change your tax withholding

Withholding is the amount of income tax your employer pays on your behalf from your paycheck. Learn how to make sure the correct amount is being withheld and how to change it.

Check your federal tax withholding

Contact your employer to get a copy of the W-4 you submitted and confirm what tax withholdings you requested. Also, read your paycheck stub to see how much federal tax your employer withheld. It should include taxes withheld from the most recent pay period and for the entire year so far.

Since the exact amount that is withheld from your pay can change with each paycheck, the easiest way to figure out your tax withholding is by estimating it.

Visit the IRS Tax Withholding for Individuals page to:

• Know when to check your withholding
• Use the withholding estimator tool to estimate your tax withholding

Decide how much tax to withhold

The amount of tax withheld from your pay depends on what you earn each pay period. It also depends on what information you gave your employer on Form W-4 when you started working. This information, like your filing status, can affect the tax rate used to calculate your withholding.

The more taxes you withhold from your pay, the less you may owe when your tax bill is due. Knowing when to increase or decrease the amount of taxes withheld from your paycheck can depend on:

• How many jobs you have
• If you have income from outside your job that is not subject to withholding
• If you are eligible for income tax credits or deductions

Learn from the IRS about how much to withhold.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) lets you to decide how much federal tax to withhold from your payments. Learn the options SSA allows for tax withholding.

Change your tax withholding

For federal tax withholding:

• Submit a new Form W-4 to your employer if you want to change the withholding from your regular pay.
• Complete Form W-4P to change the amount withheld from pension, annuity, and IRA payments. Then submit it to the organization paying you.
• Fill out Form W-4V to request or change withholding from government payments, including unemployment and Social Security benefits.

For state tax withholding, contact your state’s tax agency.

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