Question

How do you input the new W4 for 2020 information for the employees?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
January 7, 2020
10 replies
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QuickBooks Desktop

A

Anonymous

We'll need to make sure you've downloaded the latest payroll update, tjeswald.

Then, let's enter the W-4 for 2020 information in QuickBooks Desktop. Let me show you how to do it:

Click on the Employees menu.
Select Payroll Setup.
Continue the setup by following the instructions until you reach the Tax details page.
In the Tax details section, enter the employee's W-4 information.
Click on Continue.

You can also scan the W-4 form and attach it to the employee's profile. Simply click on the attachment icon and click on Scanner. Then, click on Done. By saving a copy of this form, you can have it stored in your company file.

We will gladly help you with any payroll questions. Please go ahead and post them here.

L

leannjack

I guess I am confused. Where on the new form does it state number of allowances?

J

Joshua R

Good afternoon, @leannjack.

I'm here to help with information on the new W-4 form.

The “total number of allowances” section is now gone. Instead of calculating the number of allowances, which translates into a certain amount of tax withheld (the more allowances, the less money is withheld), the form features questions about your income and dependents. There is also a new optional “Step 4” section on the new form for other adjustments such as deductions for mortgages.

Thank you for reaching out to the Community, have a great day.

T

TRAH2002

I have an employee who has filled out a 2020 W-4. I have the new for an information to enter. QB desktop 2018 had no place to enter the $ amount only allowance from the previous form. How do you get the correct field to enter the data in QB and when you get the field will other employees with previous W-4 allowances be altered?

R

Rasa-LilaM

Thanks for joining on this thread, @TRAH2002.

Let’s make sure the newly added employee’s W-4 information is properly recorded in your company file.

To accomplish this task, download the latest release version for your QuickBooks and update the tax table version.

The previous enhances the functionality of the software as well as fixes known issues. Meanwhile, the latter provides the most current and accurate rates and calculations for supported state and federal tax tables, payroll tax forms, and e-file payment options.

To download the release:

Go to the Help menu at the top to select the Update QuickBooks Desktop.
This will open another window where you can choose the Update Now tab.
Mark the box for Reset Update to remove previously downloaded updates and then tap the Get Updates button.
In the Update QuickBooks Desktop pop-up, click OK to continue.
Follow the on-screen instructions to kick off the installation.

Once done, let's go ahead and update the payroll tax table. Check out the following article on how to accomplish this task: Get the latest payroll tax table update.

Next, open the company file again and open the employee's profile. From there, go to the Taxes screen and choose the Federal tab.

Once you see the fields (Claim Dependents, Other Income, and Deductions), you can start entering the correct amount.

For your other concern, if your employees were hired before 2020, their allowances will not be altered.

Employers will continue to compute withholding based on the information from the employee’s most recently submitted Form W-4.

For an overview of the new updates to the Federal W-4, check out this article. The information applies to all payroll versions: What’s changing with the Federal W-4?

If you have any clarifications or questions, let me know by posting a comment below. I’ll be right here to answer them for you. Have a good one.

S

sarahcpa

So in the new input screens in QB Desktop for the new 2020 W-4 inputs, do we enter a dollar amount in the Claim Dependents field? Or do we enter the number of dependents claimed?

Anna S

Thanks for joining the thread, @sarahcpa.

To ensure you get the best possible answer, I recommend reaching out to your accountant. They'll be up to date on any new tax form information and can tell you what goes in the Claim Dependents field. You may find this article from the IRS helpful: FAQs on the 2020 form W-4.

Feel free to drop a line below if you have any other questions. Take care.

KlentB

I'm here to clear things out for you, Iris3.

Yes, that means the more amount you enter, the less money is withheld. As what my colleague Joshua R have mentioned, instead of calculating the number of allowances that translates into a certain amount of tax withheld, the new form prompts you to enter a dollar amount in the Claim Dependent field.

You can follow the steps that I've listed above in entering the information in the new W-4 form. I've also listed the different entries that need to be set up for the new employees who are required to fill out the new form.

I encourage you to visit this article to learn more about how the new W-4 form works in QuickBooks: What’s changing with the Federal W-4?

Do you have any other questions in mind? Please leave a comment below and I'll make sure to get back to you.

R

RElectric5

Hello,

I have an employee that filled out the new W4 with one dependent so I entered $2000 and QuickBooks didn't withhold any funds for his first check. I will be running his second check tomorrow and the test run shows that he will not have any funds withheld again. Does he have to make a certain amount of money before he starts getting funds withheld? I have updated the payroll and that didn't change anything.

Thanks in advance.

DHeraV

Hello there, @RElectric5.

I have here details to share about your tax withholding concern in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT). There are several reasons why payroll taxes aren't calculating. Below are the following:

The gross wages of the employee don't meet the minimum threshold.
The total annual salary exceeds the salary limit.

To ensure that this gets sorted out, I suggest checking your employee's withholding forms and their tax setup in your payroll product.

Let's also make sure your QuickBooks product is in the latest version as well as your tax table.

Moreover, if the paycheck turns yellow before saving, I recommend reverting it. This refreshes your payroll information to calculate the taxes accurately. Let me guide you on how:

In your QBDT file, open your employee's payroll information.
Right-click the name of your employee which is highlighted in yellow.
Select Revert Paycheck.

For detailed information, kindly visit: Save or revert paychecks in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

Additionally, I'll also share this article that can serve as your reference to learn how to fix incorrect paycheck calculations: Troubleshoot paychecks calculating incorrectly.

Feel free to leave a reply if you require further assistance. The Community team always has your back. Have a good one.

D

Dianeska

I have a question. On QB other income, what number is the one I have to enter- The amount the employee put on the Step 2(b) #1 or the number the employee put on the Step 2(b) #4?

Michael K

Happy to help out, @Dianeska.

Step 4(a) on Form W-4 is not calculated based on other boxes. This field is for other income the employee receives (not from jobs). I've included the description for this field from the official Form W-4 below.

You can find the official FAQ page for Form W-4 here: About Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Certificate

Just shoot me a reply if you run into any other questions. I'm here to ensure your continued success. Have a great rest of your week!

L

lahawk81

I have an employee that wants an additional $125 in taxes withheld and he listed it in line 4c. Will the amount listed in 4(c) be calculated with the Federal Taxes or do you have to add it to the deductions section in line 5 of the pay setup?

M

mbutler

I am running QB Premier Edition 2019 and have recently processed all necessary updates. Unfortunately, I am not seeing anything different in regards to tax setup when I attempt to setup a new employee. It's still asking for the number of allowances versus the $ for "Claim Dependents" on the 2020 W-4 form. What am I missing?

R

RaymondJayO

I'm here to ensure you'll get the right support in entering the 2020 Form W-4 information for your new employee, @mbutler.

You're on the right track in downloading all the necessary updates, so there's no information you're missing. I'd suggest contacting our Customer Care Team since the system is still asking for the number of allowances instead of the $ amount in the Claim Dependents field. They can securely access your account and determine the root cause of this issue. They can also help you fix this so you'll be able to enter the employee's 2020 Form W-4 information. Please check out our support hours before getting in touch with them. Here's how.

Go to Help from the top menu.
Select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
Click Contact Us.
Enter The program is still asking for the number of allowances instead of the $ amount in the Claim Dependents field on the 2020 W-4 form in the Ask a question (or tell us what's wrong) box.
Hit Continue.
Choose an option to connect with a live support agent.

For detailed instructions, see this article: Contact Support Team.

Once fixed, I recommend visiting this website: IRS Guide. This link provides you answers about the general, employee, employer FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4.

I'm just a post away if there's anything else you need. Have a great rest of your day, @mbutler.

M

mfink

Go to Employees > Employee Center. Double-click on the related employee. Go to > Payroll Info. > Taxes…

From here on the Federal tab, you should see a Form W-4 dropdown on the top line above Filing Status.

If there is no dropdown, you must get your software completely up to date to enable the new Form W-4 dropdown:

✓ Get Payroll Updates (Employees > Get Payroll Updates)

✓ Update QuickBooks to the latest release (Help > Update QuickBooks Desktop)

✓ Downloaded QuickBooks Updates (Online at https://downloads.quickbooks.com/app/qbdt/products)

D

Dpettit1

W-4 info is still confusing. Do you enter the amount of Dependents or the amount that is on their form?

In example 4 dependents or the $6,000.00?

M

MirriamM

Hi there, Dpettit1.

On the new W-4 form, you'll have to enter the dollar amount in the Claim Dependent field and not the number of dependents. This way, the W-4 is accurately correct when it's time to file forms.

To do it, here's how:

Go to the Employees menu at the top.
Select Employee List.
Locate and click the name of the employee.
Hit Payroll Info, and then choose Taxes..
Make sure your employee complies with the points on the Federal W-4 form popup, and then select OK.
Enter the employee's W-4 information into the form
Hit OK to save the changes.

For more information about W-4, see below helpful articles:

Let me know if you have other questions about payroll. I'll be here to answer it for you. Have a great day.

L

landlsherman

If someone wants to claim the lowest witholdings (the same as claiming 0 on the old form) so they have the most taxes taken out of their paycheck do they just put 0 in all of the boxes in section 3?

katherinejoyceO

Thanks for following this thread, @landlsherman. The system will calculate taxes based on the employee's W-4 info entered in QuickBooks.

You can either leave it blank or put zero on the boxes if the employee doesn't have a claim for dependents. Otherwise, you'll need to enter the correct number in all of the boxes in section 3 based on the submitted information.

You may also find this IRS article helpful about the updates on the 2020 W-4 form.

For future reference, check out the IRS guidelines in case you don't receive a completed W-4 from an employee, withhold their tax as single with no withholding allowances.

Feel free to visit us again if you have other concerns. We're always delighted to help you more.

C

Cryslove

I still have been unable to find the answer to what appears to be the question that multiple are asking. In Quickbooks on the Claim dependents are we putting $2000 or are we inputting 1 to reflect they are only claiming 1 on their W4 - To clarify I am not talking about the actual W4 form I am talking about what we should enter into quickbooks as it does change the way the taxes are taken out. Which is the correct answer for your system?

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Brittany1987

Since Quickbooks isn't resolving this and I enter my W-4's as these QB representatives are proposing, and my employees continue to have no federal taxes taken out then owe 10 grand at the end of the year, who is held accountable? Clearly my employee has to pay the taxes, but the IRS isn't going to be too happy with me for not withholding the proper taxes. I also don't pay the additional fees to Assisted Payroll that I do to not have this taken care of. I'm not using a tax calculator for every paycheck when I am paying you to be my payroll company. So @books11249 Do you have a resolution for this dilemma or not? My employees should in no way be having $0 taxes withheld as confirmed by 1. My own knowledge 2. My advisors knowledge 3. my Mentors knowledge and 4. My CPA.

Resolve the software issue and stop referring us to the IRS website, we know how to google stuff too.

B

Brittany1987

Since Quickbooks isn't resolving this and I enter my W-4's as these QB representatives are proposing, and my employees continue to have no federal taxes taken out then owe 10 grand at the end of the year, who is held accountable? Clearly my employee has to pay the taxes, but the IRS isn't going to be too happy with me for not withholding the proper taxes. I also don't pay the additional fees to Assisted Payroll that I do to not have this taken care of. I'm not using a tax calculator for every paycheck when I am paying you to be my payroll company. So @books11249 Do have you resolved this? I have all of the updates, I've verified data, rebuilt everything, followed all the steps, have zero time or patience for this based on the lack of customer service I'm getting using the help feature. My employees should in no way be having $0 taxes withheld as confirmed by 1. My own knowledge 2. My advisors knowledge 3. my Mentors knowledge and 4. My CPA.

Resolve the software issue and stop referring us to the IRS website, we know how to google stuff too.