2020 W4 not translating well into GP Payroll
We have numerous cases where following the on-screen instructions on the "Employee Tax Maintenance" window is resulting in no federal withholding tax being withheld, even for 40-hour work weeks.
One example: New Hire "John" completed his 2020 W4 form like this:
- He checked the box for "Single or Married Filing Separately"
- He did not check anything in "Step 2"
- In "Step 3", he entered $4,500
- He did not enter anything in "Step 4"
When we set him up as a new hire, we entered his info in the "Employee Tax Maintenance" screen like this:
- Federal Filing Status = Single
- Number of Exemptions = 2 (this was because of the on-screen instruction which reads, "mark Single or Head of Household, enter 2 for Number of Exemptions")
- Dependent Claim Amount = $4,500
And no other checkmarks or amounts, etc. entered on the "Employee Tax Maintenance" screen.
Upon the first full paycheck for this employee, there was NOTHING withheld for federal withholding tax; there was $46.50 in FICA SS; and there was $10.88 in FICA Medicare.
Why in the world was there no withholding? Are the instructions wrong? Or is the calculation wrong? At the end of the year, this employee is going to owe a lot of tax to the IRS and I don't even know how to help.
