So every employee will have no federal deductions.

Nelly, 

No. 

I don't think they know the answer and non of the moderators will admit to it.

I pay for Quickbooks payroll, so I can enter exactly what an employee has written on their withholding forms and don't have to do any calculations, because Quickbooks will do it for me.

I don't think the new 2020 W2 form was thought out.

In my over 15 years of doing payroll using Quickbooks, I think only twice did someone use the irs.gov calculator.  Employees knew what to put down to manipulate their withholding's. 

Now the IRS are asking them to do some serious math.  And not just employee, but employer.

I have no problem  doing the calculations, but then I don't think its fair for Quickbooks to charge full payroll if I'm doing half the work.  

GlinetteC, 

You do realize that this is a problem.

Most employees have never had to figure out any calculations.  Employees knew how to manipulate withholdings.  It's just not as simple.

And when an employee writes that they have one dependent at $2,000.00 and I enter that into quickbooks and their federal withholding is $0.00, It becomes and issue.

********************FOLLOW UP*********************

Spoke with the IRS, 01/24/2020 - 5:42PM (central time)

The phone agent(s) are not familiar with / can not offer any advice on how how to fill out the 2020 W4.

We need to go to the irs.gov website and follow the instructions on how to fill out the form, (employee and employer).

They are not familiar with how any payroll software processes the new forms.

Asked if they can give me an address for my local business office, because the only information at irs.gov is for personal taxpayer information.

Agent said call the local personal information office and they should be able to assist with questions for Business's or forward you to someone who can.

Agent ended the conversion with a chuckle and good luck.

"They may also answer federal business questions, but probably not on the 2020 W4.

SideNote:

I've watched the webinar at https://www.irsvideos.gov/Webinars/UnderstandingThe2020FormW4AndHowToUseItToCalculateWithholding

My only issue with the new form is how much time is required from employee and employer to fill out.

GlinetteC, 

Okay, I have filled out publication form 15-T. (attached)

Which line do I enter the amount to withhold for this pay period.

DEVINR

Was your case ever resolved?  I do not see where any QB folks have giving answer.  Is this because QB is not able to calculate the taxes correctly?  I am still waiting to here on what to put on that line and have never received a direct answer from QB.  Also my employees are still getting no federal taxes taken out of their checks.

I'm here to clear things out for you, pipeman.

When you enter the Step3: Claim Dependents from 2020 W-4 into QuickBooks, we'll have to enter the dollar amount. As what they mentioned to this thread, QuickBooks Desktop mirrors the fields from the form.

Your employees no longer declare the number of dependents, but instead the total amount. It's your employees who calculate it for you. Based on the details from the form they provided, that's what you'll enter into QuickBooks.

Also, here are some of the articles you can check if the federal taxes still not calculating:

• QuickBooks Desktop calculates wages and/or payroll taxes incorrectly

• How QuickBooks calculates payroll taxes

• Payroll items on paycheck are not calculating or are calculating incorrectly

Reply again and tag my name if you have more clarifications. I'll be happy to help.

pipeman, 

I've been advising new employees to contact the IRS as they are convinced that Quickbooks and our payroll department are in cahoots with the government to make sure they don't get a tax refund.

Also, have been advising them to use the IRS Tax withholding estimator.

What's funny is that you are able to download a pre-filled W4 based on the information you entered, but even if you enter that you will claim 1 dependent it doesn't pre-fill the W4 with $2,000.00.

My goal, because I feel like something is not right is to have employees verify everything through the IRS.

Hi-Did you ever resolve this?  It seems that if $2,000 per dependent is entered, their will be no federal withholding.  Is it in this place the employees are supposed to enter a dollar amount based on the tax estimator.  Thereby really ignoring the $2k per dependent dollar amount.   If the $2,000 is lower, they might have federal withholding above zero?

No it has not been resolved.

I have been telling employees up front that federal taxes will not be withheld under this new form.

They should go to irs.gov and use the calculator.  Also contact the IRS to verify the information.

I find that the calculator is not giving correct information either, but at least in the end when an employee complains about no federal tax withholding, I can say I only entered the information the IRS gave you, take it up with them.

Amounts are taken out on larger wages, as i entered different numbers to test quickbooks, 

but not on my minimum wage employees.

Hi there, heazim1 and DEVINR. 

Yes, Step3: Claim Dependents is where you can enter the dollar amount based on the tax estimator. We depend our tax calculation based on the IRS guidelines and what you entered on the employees tax details. 

I'll be attaching the articles again on how we calculate taxes and the Publication 15 (2020), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide. 

Feel free to get back to me if you need more help. Take care always!

The number needs to be in dollar amount, so 1 dependent under 17 = 2000 then if there are other dependents at 500 each say 2 = 1000 you would add all that together and put in QB $3000.00 would go in the claim dependents section. 

Thank you, Alex. 

so. enter the dollar amount and not number of dependents into QuickBooks for the 2020 and later W-4. 

I can't believe it took QB this long to answer the question.  Finally QB said enter the same thing that is on the W-4; the dollar amount not the number of qualifying children.  

I'm asking the same question as previous --- In entering the information for the employee's tax choices on the Federal W4 into Quickbooks, it used to be you chose "HOH 2 exemptions" if the patient had 2 dependents they wished to claim.  Our accountant emailed asked for the $ amt.  I don't get it -

Let me help you, Taxes101dds.

It looks like the amounts given by your accountant are the details that are needed to be entered. 

As always, we suggest conferring with your accountant concerning the amounts. This is to ensure we'll be entering the information correctly.

Don't hesitate to get back to this thread if you need more help. We're just one comment away. Take care!

I don't know if I should claim zero or 1. Do I count myself

These moderators are ridiculous.  Not hearing the question at hand in the least.

I can tell you this, if you go into QUICKBOOKS DESKTOP, NOT the bloody post 2020 W4....  Employees > Employee Center > Employee Information > Edit > Payroll Info > Taxes > Claim Dependents > 4,000 > OK...

Your employee (who, for example, grosses $2,100 every two weeks) will have ZERO income tax withheld ALL YEAR LONG.  That is wrong.  There is NO way in the USA that calculation is correct for a gross that high. If you change the 4,000 to 2, QuickBooks will deduct $123 (in this employee's situation) in Federal Income Tax which is closer the the amount you will find in the bottom line if you create a spreadsheet that mimics the EXACT layout of the post 2020 W4 using the appropriate tables accompanying said W4 for said employee... which is $128 rounded.  $123 is far closer to correct that $0.  Use 1, 2, 3, etc. in QuickBooks Desktop.  NOT 2,000, 4,000, 6,000, etc.

Hope this helps. 

1

The IRS must have very deep pockets because many people who have a working spouse or hold 2 jobs are going to overlook checking the new box indicating '2 jobs'. The form W4 2020 and later does a dollar based calculation, not quantity, on the exemption for dependents box, and takes the '2 jobs' indicator into part of the calculation. You can test this for an employee who has a working spouse and makes say, $1000 per week. If the '2 jobs' box is checked (e.g. for a working spouse) then federal taxes are taken out, in this particular case about $20/week. I guess the gov't is not going to get paid until April 15 by a lot of folks, and QB will say, 'tsk, tsk, you didn't check the new little box!' and MANY people will have a big tax bill in April instead of that hoped for refund. For anyone living paycheck to paycheck, this will be a horrendous surprise.

Im experiencing the same issue I claimed 2 dependents and no federal was withheld and my employer nor reps from QuickBooks can tell me why that is. I never got the news that with the new 2020 w4 of you claim one or more dependents no federal taxes will be withheld but if you were in the old w4 form federal will

be withheld? 

This is an absolutely maddening response.  The question is not how to fill out the W-4, but what to put in the "number of dependents" in the payroll tax section of Quickbooks.  Why is that such a hard thing to answer directly??????

I've heard all your sentiments, sandydeg, JennVal, and jcm7. Let me share insights about the number of dependents to be entered in QuickBooks.

When we are to enter the number of dependents, we'll have to enter the dollar amount. As mentioned on this thread, QuickBooks Desktop mirrors the fields from the form. 

Also, based on the details from the form they have provided, you'll enter the exact data into QuickBooks. To further provide you with the correct information, I'd suggest reaching out to the IRS. They'll help you verify and address your concern.

Moreover, you can check out these helpful references to guide you further about the IRS guidelines for W4 forms:

• FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4.
• Publication 15 (2023), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide.

You can always reply in the comments below if you have additional queries about payroll tax forms. We'd be glad to assist you further. Take care!

You keep writing  " I'm here to help "  haven't helped yet with

answering the question.