The Internal Revenue Service has updated its income tax-withholding tables for 2018 to reflect changes made by the new federal tax law, which will affect full-time employees at the University of Wyoming.
A withholding table shows payroll service providers and employers how much tax to withhold from employee paychecks, given each employee’s wages, marital status and the number of withholding allowances they claim. This affects the amount of taxes, social security and Medicare withheld.
The new withholding tables are needed to reflect the changes in tax rates and tax brackets. They are also needed to show the increased standard deduction and repeal of personal exemptions that were included in the tax reform law signed by congress back in December. The withholding guidance is for employers to make changes to their payroll systems and is designed to work with existing W-4s that employees have on file.
Withholding tables are used by UW’s payroll office to determine how much tax to withhold from an employee’s paycheck. Employees will see the withholding change starting on their checks this month.
This change requires no additional action from the employees.
“Payroll changes required each year are made by employers and their payroll providers, so employees are not required to take any extra steps,” Sheralyn Farnham, the payroll Mmnager at the University of Wyoming, said.
It is advised that employees should check their withholdings after the new 2018 W-4 form.
“It’s always a good idea for people to check their withholding status,” Farnham said.
The new tax law, passed in December, adjusts the level in which individuals are taxed according to their income. The regrouping is beneficial to some but other individuals are planning to see no change or an increase in their withholdings.
“I probably won’t see my taxes go down, but I will probably see them go up,” Professor Mark Ritchie, from the UW Art Department, said.
Professor Shelby Shadwell, of the UW Art Department, said, “Of course I’m concerned, but I haven’t met with any tax professionals at this time so I’m still waiting to see what will happen.”
The revised 2018 W-4 form is still pending government release.
