New Tax Withholding estimator

Published: 9/30/2019 5:07:20 PM

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A mobile-friendly Tax Withholding Estimator replaces the Withholding Calculator.

The new tool offers retirees, as well as employees and self-employed individuals, a more user-friendly way to check their withholding. Whether they receive wages or pension payments, it helps taxpayers estimate if the right amount is being withheld from their income to cover their tax liability. The tool uses a simple, six-step question-and-answer format using information like marital or filing status, income, withholding, adjustments, deductions and credits. These enhancements are just a few of the many new features offered by the Tax Withholding Estimator. Others include:

  • Plain language to improve taxpayer understanding.
  • Mobile-friendly design.
  • A new progress tracker to help taxpayers know how much more information they need to enter.
  • The ability to go back and forth through the steps, correct previous entries and skip questions that don't apply.
  • Tips and links to help users quickly determine if they qualify for various tax credits and deductions.
  • Automatic calculation of taxes on self-employment income.

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The IRS urges both pension recipients and wage-earners to do a Paycheck Checkup now and review their withholding for 2019. This is especially important for anyone who faced an unexpected tax bill or penalty when they filed earlier this year. It's also a critical step for those who made withholding adjustments in 2018 or had a major life change, such as marriage, the birth of a child, adoption or buying a home.

People most at risk of having too little tax withheld include those who itemized in the past, but now take the increased standard deduction. They also include households with two wage earners, employees with non-wage sources of income and those with complex tax situations.

Also, anyone who changes their withholding in the middle or latter part of this year should do another Paycheck Checkup in January. That will help ensure that they have the right amount of tax withheld for all of 2020.

Read the entire article on IRS.Gov https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-withholding-estimator-helps-retirees-figures-tax-on-social-security-benefits