how to determine withholding post 2017
much of how things worked before the passage of the tcja is the same today individuals still fill out a w 4 employers still use it to calculate how much of an employee s paycheck should be taxed and tax filing status is still key but the irs revamped and simplified the w 4 form and how taxpayers should determine their withholding now withholding amounts relate to whether an individual has multiple jobs or a spouse who works what credits they can claim and other adjustments 4for example withholding is affected if fortunately you can use the irs withholding calculator to see whether you re having the right amount withheld from your paycheck exemption from withholdingan individual can be completely exempt from withholding but it s not easy to receive that status you can claim the exemption from withholding only if you had a right to a refund of all federal income tax withheld in the prior year because you didn t have any tax liability and you expect the same for the current year you simply write exempt on form w 4 5this must be done annually the exemption doesn t automatically carry over 