The Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department issued proposed regulations Tuesday that update the federal income tax withholding rules to reflect changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and other legislation.
The proposed regs are intended to accommodate the redesigned Form W-4, to be used starting in 2020, and the related tables and computational procedures in Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods, the IRS explained.
The plan provide rules on when employees must furnish a new Form W-4 for changed circumstances, update the regulations for the "lock-in letter program" and eliminate the combined income tax and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) tax withholding tables.
The proposed regs and related guidance do not require employees to furnish a new Form W-4 solely because of the redesign, and they permit employees to use the new IRS Tax Withholding Estimator to help them accurately fill out Form W-4.
Taxpayers may still use the worksheets in the instructions to Form W-4 and in Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, to assist them in filling out the form correctly.