W-4 Form Law and Legal Definition
W-4 Form or Employees withholding allowance Certificate is a document issued by the United States Internal Revenue Service. W-4 form is used by new employees and existing employees to change the number of personal exemptions claimed for tax withholding purposes. On hiring an employee, the employer must have the employee complete a Form W-4. It is used to estimate the amount of federal income tax to be withheld from a paycheck. Form W-4 tells the employer, which marital status, how many withholding allowances, and any additional amount to use when deducting Federal income tax from the employees' pay. If an employee fails to give a properly completed Form W-4, the employer can withhold federal income taxes from his or her wages as if he or she were single and claiming no withholding allowances. An employee may be subject to a $500 penalty if he or she submits, with no reasonable basis, a Form W-4 that results in less tax being withheld than is required.
Legal Definition list
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