3 Things You Need to Know About the IRS’ New Withholding Calculator and Form W-4

With the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in December 2017, the IRS has been working diligently to keep up with the changes of the law. On March 1, 2018, the IRS released a new withholding calculator for individual taxpayers and an updated Form W-4.

1. Why Is There a New Form W-4?

As a result of the changes implemented by the TCJA, Form W-4 needed to be updated to reflect new tax rules, including:

• Changes in itemized deductions
• Increases in the child tax credit
• The new dependent credit
• The repeal of dependent exemptions

2. What Is the Withholding Calculator for?

The withholding calculator is a tool developed by the IRS in order to determine an individual taxpayer’s withholding allowances for 2018. The calculator does not gather any personal information like name, address, etc., but the calculator does require some financial information specific to withholding calculations, like an estimate of 2018 income, number of dependents, etc.

In an FAQ regarding the calculator, the IRS recommends that “employees check their withholding each year to make sure they’re having the right amount of tax withheld from their paychecks.”

In particular, the agency suggests that the following groups check their withholding for 2018:

• Families with more than one earner
• People with two or more jobs at the same time
• People who only work for part of the year
• People with children who claim credits such as the Child Tax Credit
• People with older dependents, including children age 17 or older
• People who itemized deductions in 2017
• People with high incomes and more complex tax returns

3. Are There More Changes to Come?

Yes, the IRS said in a press release in January 2018 that taxpayers should expect to see more withholding changes in 2019.

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