The IRS encourages everyone to use the Withholding Calculator to perform a quick “paycheck checkup.” This is even more important this year because of recent changes to the tax law for 2018.
The Calculator helps you identify your tax withholding to make sure you have the right amount of tax withheld from your paycheck at work.
There are several reasons to check your withholding:
Checking your withholding can help protect against having too little tax withheld and facing an unexpected tax bill or penalty at tax time next year. At the same time, with the average refund topping $2,800, you may prefer to have less tax withheld up front and receive more in your paychecks. If you are an employee, the Withholding Calculator helps you determine whether you need to give your employer a new Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate. You can use your results from the Calculator to help fill out the form and adjust your income tax withholding.
Link to new pdf fillableW4: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf
Link to IRS W4 calculator: https://apps.irs.gov/app/withholdingcalculator/
Plan Ahead: Tips For Using This Program
The Calculator will ask you to estimate values of your 2018 income, the number of children you will claim for the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, and other items that will affect your 2018 taxes. This process will take a few minutes.
Gather your most recent pay stubs. Have your most recent income tax return handy; a copy of your completed Form 1040 will help you estimate your 2018 income and other characteristics and speed the process. Keep in mind that the Calculator’s results will only be as accurate as the information you provide. If your circumstances change during the year, come back to this Calculator to make sure that your withholding is still correct. The Withholding Calculator does not ask you to provide sensitive personally-identifiable information like your name, Social Security number, address or bank account numbers. The IRS does not save or record the information you enter on the Calculator.
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