FAQs about entering tax information as an employee

To claim more than 20 allowances for state or federal income taxes as an employee in Zenefits:

1. Enter 0 and complete onboarding, or click Save (if onboarding is already complete).
2. Reach out directly to your administrator to have them make the change in payroll.
3. Then, contact Zenefits Customer Care and provide the number of allowances.

Please note that allowances do not affect FICA withholding. Learn more about claiming exemption from FICA in Zenefits.

You can update the tax withholding and filing status information on your Federal and State W-4s directly in Zenefits in the Tax Info section of the Personal Information app.

• Click here to enter or update your Federal tax information.
• Click here to enter or update your state tax information.

There's no need to upload anything. Zenefits will generate a new W-4 when you make changes to tax information.

Note: For any questions on the new W-4, you can learn more here.

Each state has differing guidance on choosing the appropriate number of allowances for state income tax withholding. See this list of state forms for specific instructions in each state. To calculate the appropriate number of federal allowances, see the the IRS Withholding Calculator (or Form W-4).

To specify an additional fixed dollar amount for Federal or state withholding, enter the amount in the Additional Withhold field during onboarding, or afterwards by doing this:

1. Log in to Zenefits.
2. Click the Personal Information app on the dashboard.
3. Click Tax Info on the left side of the page.
4. Click the edit icon next to Federal Tax Withholding or State Tax Withholding.
5. Enter the amount of your withholding.
6. Complete a new signature.
7. Click Save.

During onboarding, you can enter your state tax filing and withholding information for the state(s) where you live and work. After onboarding, click here to enter or update your state withholding allowances and filing status from the Bank and Tax Info card. If you move to a new state, click here change your home address in the Personal Information card, then update your tax information in the Tax Info section.

Zenefits uses your home address and the address of your work location (which your manager assigns to you) to determine the states for which you should provide tax info. You'll fill out at least the federal W-4, and if your home address and work addresses are:

• in the same state (and it has state income tax), Zenefits will ask you to enter withholding allowances and filing status for that state. These states have no income tax.
• in different states, Zenefits will ask for tax information in each state that has income tax. If these states have with a reciprocal agreement in place, you can complete a Certificate of Non-Residence in your work state (and provide it to your administrator), and let Zenefits know you'd like to be taxed solely in your home state.

Each time you make changes to your tax information, you'll need to provide a signature. Once you do, Zenefits will generate a new W-4, which you'll be able to download.

Employees can be exempt from taxes for a number of reasons. Individual situations can differ, but here are a few general guidelines for eligibility for full exemption.

• Foreign nationals who are working in the US under a F-1, J-1, M-1, Q-1, or Q-2 visa are exempt from paying Social Security or Medicare taxes. They should not have withholding for Social Security and Medicare.
• Family employees of certain types of businesses are sometimes exempt from particular taxes. For example:
  • Children under 18 who work for their parents may be exempt from Social Security or Medicare and FUTA taxes.
  • Individuals employed by their spouse may be exempt from FUTA taxes.

IRS regulations state that individuals who wish to claim exemption from federal income taxes must meet both of the following criteria:

• For the prior year, the individual had a right to a refund of all federal income tax withheld because they had no tax liability, and
• For the current year, the individual expects a refund of all federal income tax withheld because they expect to have no tax liability.

You employer must begin withholding the Additional Medicare Tax (0.9%) from your wages once it has paid you wages in excess of $200,000. If you earned over $200,000 from a previous employer in the same year, you are still responsible for paying the additional tax, but your current employer may not be willing or able to handle these extra withholdings for you.

Contact a tax advisor for more information and instructions on handling the additional withholding. For example, you have the option to make estimated payments if you expect to have any liability for the additional tax, or to request that your current employer withhold additional income tax on Form W-4, which can then be applied to all taxes on your Form 1040.

If an employee has already met the annual wage base limit for Social Security with a previous employer in a given year, they can contact a tax advisor to recover any excess tax paid on their personal returns.

However, the current employer is still required to withhold and pay Social Security taxes up to the annual wage base limit for wages paid to the employee (even if they reached the limit for the year with a prior employer). Employers cannot honor the Social Security wage cap for wages paid to a current employee by a former employer.

How does Zenefits Payroll determine what taxes should be withheld?

Zenefits Payroll uses the home address and work location provided when employees are hired into our system.  Using a process called geolocation, Zenefits Payroll relies on GPS data to identify a precise location for each address. The geolocation data, in combination with Nexus and Reciprocity data, produces the employee's taxation results.