IRS Releases 2013 Employer Tax Guides, Levy Tables And Corrected Form W-4

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released the 2013 versions of the following four key publications that help employers meet their payroll tax responsibilities:

• Circular E, Employer's Tax Guide (Publication 15) - Pub. 15 explains the requirements for withholding, depositing, reporting, paying, and correcting employment taxes, the forms employers must give to employees and employees must give to their employers, and the forms employers must send to the IRS and the Social Security Administration (SSA). Pub. 15 also includes the 2013 Wage Bracket and Percentage Method tables needed to figure the taxes to withhold from each employee for 2013.
• Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide (Publication 15-A) - Pub. 15-A supplements the basic information found in Pub. 15 with more specialized employment tax information.
• Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits (Publication 15-B) - Pub. 15-B contains information about the employment tax treatment and valuation of various types of noncash compensation.
• Publication 1494, Tables for Figuring Amount Exempt from Levy on Wages, Salary and Other Income - Employers must use these tables to calculate the amount of an employee's wages that are exempt should the employee be subject to withholding to pay a federal income tax levy.

These publications reflect employment tax changes made by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.

The IRS has also re-issued a corrected version of the 2013 Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate. The corrected form was re-issued after January 18, 2013. Employers that used the earlier released version should note that the following revisions were made to line 1 of the Deductions and Adjustments Worksheet on page 2:

• The number "7.5%" has been changed to "10% (7.5% if either you or your spouse was born before January 2, 1949)"; and
• New references to certain income limitations for itemized deductions and to IRS Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, have been added.

Additional Resources

Payroll > Withholding Taxes

Payroll > Taxation of Employee Compensation

Payroll > Involuntary and Voluntary Pay Deductions > Federal Tax Levies

Payroll > Depositing and Reporting Withheld Taxes