Hello,

I'm in Colorado and we do not have separate withholding form for State.  When I enter a new employee for 2020, the state tab still gives me a dependent number to enter instead of a dollar amount.  Do I enter what the dependent number would equal to from the dollar amount on the 2020 W4?  I have attached a pic to show.

Thank you for providing a screenshot, Accounting3054. 

Employers will continue to compute withholding based on the information from the employee’s most recently submitted Form W-4. With regards to the state allowances, unless the employee has made some changes on their state withholding, the number will remain as is. We can also ask the employees if they wanted to enter their additional state allowances. 

The allowances will not be reported in the new W-4 for 2020. With this, I suggest reaching out to your tax advisor for further assistance on a proper way of handling allowances for state of Colorado. You can read these references to learn more:

• FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4

• Colorado Payroll Tax Compliance

Just leave reply again if you have more questions. You take care always and have a great day! 

If someone wants to claim the lowest witholdings (the same as claiming 0 on the old form) so they have the most taxes taken out of their paycheck do they just put 0 in all of the boxes in section 3? 

Thanks for following this thread, @landlsherman. The system will calculate taxes based on the employee's W-4 info entered in QuickBooks. 

You can either leave it blank or put zero on the boxes if the employee doesn't have a claim for dependents. Otherwise, you'll need to enter the correct number in all of the boxes in section 3 based on the submitted information. 

You may also find this IRS article helpful about the updates on the 2020 W-4 form. 

For future reference, check out the IRS guidelines in case you don't receive a completed W-4 from an employee, withhold their tax as single with no withholding allowances.

Feel free to visit us again if you have other concerns. We're always delighted to help you more. 

I still have been unable to find the answer to what appears to be the question that multiple are asking.  In Quickbooks on the Claim dependents are we putting $2000 or are we inputting 1 to reflect they are only claiming 1 on their W4 - To clarify I am not talking about the actual W4 form I am talking about what we should enter into quickbooks as it does change the way the taxes are taken out.  Which is the correct answer for your system?

All of the answers from a Quick books team member have been inadequate and do not actually answer the question that literally everyone has been asking. I am going to attempt to ask again and hopefully get an actual answer. 

My employee has written $4000.00 down on his W4 as his withholding per the instructions on the worksheet. 
When I enter $4000.00 into the box titled "Claim Dependents" zero income taxes are withheld.
We know that with the prior form that would have been entered as as 2 and income tax would be withheld.

How exactly do we enter their W4 information into Quickbooks so that it is accurate and properly calculating their with-holdings?
Please do not instruct me to run a payroll update, that is not the issue.
Please do not instruct me to reach out to a CPA as that will not be helpful.
We all need to know HOW to enter the information into your software.

Hi there, office_MM.

Aside from claim dependents, QuickBooks also considers the taxable amount, filing status, and pay frequency in calculating the income tax. One of these factors might be causing the zero income tax. 

If you've already reviewed everything, I would recommend reaching out to our Payroll Support Team. They'll check everything in the employee setup to determine why QuickBooka is not calculating any Federal Withholding for this particular employee. Here's how to reach out to them: 

1. Go to the Help menu and select QuickBooks Dersktop Help.
2. Click Contact Us.
3. Let them know that you need help with the employee's W4 information. 
4. Click Continue and select the available options that you can see there.

Please take note that due to the growing impact of COVID 19, our support channel is only open in between 6 AM to 6PM every Monday to Friday. See this link for more details about their operating hours: Support Hours And Types.

Don't hesitate to reach out to us again if you need anything else. 

This thread is ridiculous.  Everyone is asking the same question that QB can't seem to answer.  On the W4 form, the employee puts the deduction amount in increments of $2,000 for each dependent but in QB do you enter the $2,000 or put 1 for each dependent.

People have stated that if they enter $2,000 no federal taxes are withheld.  So that leads us to believe we enter the number of dependents.

This is not questioning the W4 form, it is questioning the entering of it into QB.

Did you ever get the answer you needed? I'm trying to figure this out to, and this thread has been pointless.

Thanks for joining the thread, @MelissaLS.

I'll make sure that users will be able to get on their tasks seamlessly. May I know what part are you sorting out? This way, I can assist you with that specific section that you need help with W-4 for 2020.

Also, other Community members and backers in this public forum might guide you and add references with the assistance you need.

Additionally, you can check these articles about the updates and more information on W-4 for 2020:

• What's changing with the Federal W-4?
• FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4

You can always share your concern if there's anything else about QuickBooks. I'll be happier to help. Stay safe and awesome!

I input in QB the dollar amount for the dependent section and now one of my employees has ZERO Federal Withholdings being taken out of his check.  He has 3 children so I entered $6000 in QB.  This doesn't seem correct.  What am I doing wrong?

Quickbooks Team:

My question is do I enter a dollar amount or the number of dependents that is used to calculate the dollar amount in QB?  (example:  1 kid  OR  $2000)

Please don't say anything other than 1 or $2000 for your answer.  I don't not need any other information than that.

Hi there, Alyson J. 

While I can't tell you what to put in on the form, I can explain it and give you an example. As per the W-4 form for 2020 on step 3 for claiming dependents, multiply the number of qualifying children under age 17 by $2,000. So if you have 1 child, you would write the number 2,000. If you have 2 children you would write 4,000. So on and so forth. 

I'm including some helpful links below:

• 2020 W-4 form pdf.
• Tax withholding estimator. 
• How to file with the IRS. 

Thank you for your time and I hope you have a lovely weekend. 

My question has nothing to do with the form.  My question is what do I enter into QB.  If someone put $2000 on their form, do I enter $2000 into QB or do I enter 1 under the Claim Dependent field.

Thanks for getting back to us, @Alyson J.

You can enter the $2000 into the Claim Dependent field. Based on the new w-4, well have to enter the dollar amount, not the number of dependents. This way, the W-4 is accurately correct when it's time to file forms.

You can follow the steps below on how to enter the information:

1. Select Employees from the top bar menu.
2. Choose Employee List.
3. Select the name of the employee. 
4. Click Payroll Info, and then select Taxes
5. On the W-4 Form dropdown, select 2020 and Later.
6. Make sure your employee complies with the points on the Federal W-4 form popup, and then select OK. 
7. Enter the employee's W-4 information into the form
8. Hit OK to save the changes.
9.  

In case you have a new employee that is required to fill out the new 2020 Form W-4 but fail to submit, here are the following entries on how to set up: 

• Filing Status = Single
• Multiple Jobs/Spouse Works (2c) = Not Checked
• Claim Dependent Amount = $0
• Other Income = $0Deductions = $0
• Extra Withholding = $0

For additional reference, you can check out these articles that will help you with W-4:

• What’s changing with the Federal W-4 
•  Latest payroll news and updates
• FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4
•  

You're always welcome to visit us again if you have other questions. I'll be here to help. Have a nice day!

EVERY QB Team Member is MISSING THIS!

It is a QB problem not a tax issue.  Everyone is asking if we enter the dollar amount from the form and we put that into QB then it doesn't withhold any federal tax and employees will have to pay in the tax.

QB needs to fix this issue because it only works when I use the number of dependents not dollar amount.

I appreciate your patience with this, AnnetteFox.

At this moment, I recommend getting in touch with our QuickBooks Support Team. One of our representatives can further investigate why QuickBooks only withhold the tax if the number of dependents is entered.

Here's how:

1. From the Help menu, select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
2. In the Have a Question window, scroll down to click the Contact us link.
3. This will display the Contact Us screen.
4. Go to the Tell us more about your question section to enter the issue or topic in the field box.
5. Click the Search button to display the Start a Chat button.

Additionally, I suggest checking out the IRS guidelines in case you don't receive a completed W-4 from an employee, withhold their tax as single with no withholding allowances. This is to ensure your data is accurate.

Feel free to reach out to us again. This way, we'll be able to provide the assistance you need.

The new W4 form STEP 3 has the employee enter a CLAIM DEPENDENTS $dollar amount vs qty of claim dependents.  When setting them up in QBS do I enter the $dollar figure my employee wrote or the qty of claim dependents so that QBs calculates this correctly?  For example, in QBS setup if the employee on the new form claimed $2000.00 do I enter 2000.0 in QBs payroll setup or Qty 1?

Thanks for following this thread, Hanbo.

As mentioned by @BigRedConsulting and colleagues, you’ll have to enter the dollar figure in the fields. This is to ensure your taxes and forms have the correct information.

 If you’re setting up the employee’s profile, I suggest following the solution shared by @JoesemM above. Let me also share this article to guide you on how to input your employees’ W-4: FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4.

Please know the Community has your back. If you have any other QuickBooks concerns, don’t hesitate to visit us again. I’ll be right here ready to help. Enjoy your day. 

Thank you for the information my question was on this matter also. Just for clarification since the number of deductions is no longer on form is it still an option to claim more or less deductions to have more or less withholding amount?

Yes, it's still an option, Lori2021.

Instead of calculating the number of allowances that translates into a certain amount of tax withheld, the new tax form will prompt you to enter a dollar amount in the Claim Dependent field. This means that the more allowances you claimed (the higher the amount you enter), the less your employer would withhold from your paycheck. The fewer you claimed, the more your employer would withhold.

You can follow the steps provided by my colleague, Joesem M in entering the information in the new tax form.

I also encourage reading these articles to learn more about how the new W-4 form works in QuickBooks:
 

• FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4
• What’s changing with the Federal W-4?

Do you have any other questions in mind? Feel free to leave them below and I'll get back to you.

W-4 info is still confusing.  Do you enter the amount of Dependents or the amount that is on their form?

In example 4 dependents or the $6,000.00?

Hi there, Dpettit1.

On the new W-4 form, you'll have to enter the dollar amount in the Claim Dependent field and not the number of dependents. This way, the W-4 is accurately correct when it's time to file forms.

To do it, here's how:

1. Go to the Employees menu at the top.
2. Select Employee List.
3. Locate and click the name of the employee. 
4. Hit Payroll Info, and then choose Taxes..
5. Make sure your employee complies with the points on the Federal W-4 form popup, and then select OK. 
6. Enter the employee's W-4 information into the form
7. Hit OK to save the changes.

For more information about W-4, see below helpful articles:

• What’s changing with the Federal W-4 
•  Latest payroll news and updates
• FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4

Let me know if you have other questions about payroll. I'll be here to answer it for you. Have a great day.

I know how the taxes and tax law work. We want to know how this software work, if it is looking for a $ amount, as is on the new W4 or a # amount? Nothing is clear here at all.

And to someone who asked above a few lines, no you are no longer able to claim yourself as of 2019 I believe.