W-4

T

I have an ex-employee who completed a W-4, but scratched out his original "0" exemption and changed it to "3". Is there a problem with this? Now for his 2001 taxes he will have to pay taxes because not enough was taken out. Is it ok for me to fax him a copy of his W-4? His pay stubs through-out the year did indicated an "S-3" filing status, along with him seeing how much money was taken out for FIT. Seems to me he should have noticed on his stubs. Am I responsible?

System

I'm not an expert on this by any means, but I don't see why you can't touch base with him and ask him if he'd like to change his deductions for 2002. Some employees claim more deductions on purpose because they don't want to "loan" the government extra money then get a rebate at the end of the year. But it sounds like he's in the hole with his deductions set up the way they are. I'd simply touch base with him and ask if he'd like to change his deductions. I don't think you're required to do it, but it would be a nice gesture to help him out next year.

Christy Reeder
Website Managing Editor
[url]www.HRhero.com[/url]

Rockie

No..you are not responsible. But, I would suggest in the future that you not allow "scratch outs" on W-4s. I would have the employee sign a new W-4 if they wanted to change their deduction. They can always say that "someone" scratched this out, but it wasn't them. (for what purpose anyone would do this, I haven't a clue). At the very least, though, it is the employee's responsibility to examine their paychecks and their deductions to make sure they have accurately selected their deduction amounts.