Adjusting Tax Withholding

Needed to adjust your income tax withholding? You’ll need to submit a new W-4 to your employer. But it can be nearly impossible to predict the actual amount of the withholding when filling out the form.

We have created a simple spreadsheet which will calculate this for you. Just enter the pay/salary you expect per pay period (minus any deductions for things such as 401k/403b, health insurance, etc). Annualize this number (i.e. multiply by the number of pay periods) and enter this value in the grey box. [Important, these values are accurate only if you do NOT check the box in Step 2-C of the W-4].

You can calculate in advance what your annual withholding will be, and make adjustments as necessary.

Embedded W-4 Excel Spreadsheet

As always, use this at your own risk. We cannot vouch for he accuracy of the information, and you should verify our calculations if it is critical you have accurate numbers.

Your employer can use one of several different methods to calculate your withholding off of your W-4. But the final result should be very close regardless of the method chosen. Our method uses the most common method “Percentage Method Tables for Automated Payroll Systems”.

If you don't need to calculate the exact dollar amount in advance, but instead just want to get the appropriate tax withheld to avoid penalties and tax surprises, GO HERE for our page with general education about filling out your W-4.