New Tax Law Changes for 2018

By now we are all aware that there are new tax tables coming due to tax reform. While most everyone will see a difference in their paycheck by February 15, there are still some details that aren’t quite ready. As the tax law is written, there will be no personal exemptions for 2018. So, what are we supposed to do with those W-4 forms that we have from our employees?
The IRS recently released a notice with additional information regarding those W-4 forms. The notice extends the effective period of the current Forms W-4 until February 28, 2018 and does the following:
• Temporarily suspends the requirement that employees must furnish their employers new Forms W-4 within 10
of changes in status that reduce the withholding allowances they are entitled to claim;
• Extends the use of the 2017 W-4 Form until the 2018 W-4 Form is available;
• Provides that the withholding rate on supplemental wage payments is 22 percent for 2018 through 2025; and
• Provides that, for 2018, withholding on periodic payments when no withholding certificate is in effect is
based on treating the payee as a married individual claiming three withholding allowances.
Basically, it is going to take the IRS quite some time to redesign the W-4 so it reflects the changes in the new tax law, so to minimize the burden on employees and employers, the IRS and the Treasury Department designed the 2018 withholding tables to work with the Forms W-4 that employees have already furnished their employers. Once the newly designed 2018 Form W-4 is released employees will have 30 days to submit the new forms to their employers.