UNIVERSITY PAYROLL TAXES

Note: The UHR Payroll Division cannot give tax advice to any employees. If employees need tax assistance, they should contact the IRS or seek their own tax or legal counsel.

Forms are hyperlinked in Portable Document Format (PDF) with fields to be filled out on-line using Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4.0 or later. These PDF forms should then be printed using the printer icon near the upper-left corner of the form. PDF forms with data cannot be saved or e-mailed.

Tax Forms
All employees must complete a W-4 and a VA-4 Form. The W-4 Form is used to claim withholding for federal income tax. The VA-4 Form is used to claim withholding for state income tax. Withholding allowances determine how much income tax is withheld from each paycheck.

Employees may obtain these forms from their Departmental Payroll Contact. Departments, in turn, may obtain these forms from General Stores or from the web forms directory.

New Hires
New wage employees must complete and return a W-4 and a VA-4 Form to their department or to UHR Payroll. The department must forward the tax forms to UHR Payroll. If no form is received, Payroll, following IRS guidelines must default the taxing to the maximum withholding amount, Single with no exemptions.

New classified and faculty salaried employees will be given these forms for completion during their Benefits Orientation Meeting.

Changing Tax Information
If an employee wants to change his withholding, a new W-4 and/or a VA-4 Form must be completed and returned to the UHR Payroll Division. Changes may be made at any time of year.

Exemption from Withholding
Employees can claim exemption from income tax withholding, if they meet IRS guidelines. Information on claiming exemption from withholding can be found on the tax forms. By claiming this exempt status, no federal or state taxes will be withheld.

Mandatory Renewal of Exemption from Withholding
The exempt status expires at the end of the calendar year. Each calendar year, employees must file new tax forms to claim the exempt status. A new VA-4 form must be filed before December 31 and a new W-4 must be filed before February 15 in order to maintain an exempt status for the upcoming calendar year.

If an employee's exempt status is not renewed, the University must begin withholding income taxes, at the default maximum withholding amount, single with no exemptions. No refunds will be given by the UHR Payroll Division.

Overwithheld Income Taxes
As an employer, the University is required to withhold income taxes from an employee's paycheck according to the employee's W-4 and VA-4 forms. It is the employee's responsibility to complete these tax forms and to do so correctly.

If an employee fails to complete the forms, and if income taxes are overwithheld as a result, the UHR Payroll Division WILL NOT refund any of the taxes withheld.

The employee can obtain a refund of any overwithheld income taxes when filing his annual income tax return.

Exempt FICA Status of Full-Time Students
Information regarding this policy can be found here.

FICA Status of Foreign Nationals
Information regarding this policy can be found here.

Current April 1, 2002