Page 54 - Form W4 and payroll Tables

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The type and rule above prints on all proofs including departmental reproduction proofs. MUST be removed before printing.
of nonresident alien employees performing services within The amounts from Tables 1 and 2 are added to wages
the United States. solely for calculating income tax withholding on the wages
This procedure only applies to nonresident alien em- of the nonresident alien employee. The amounts from the
ployees who have wages subject to income tax withhold- tables shouldn't be included in any box on the employee's
ing. Form W-2 and don't increase the income tax liability of the
Nonresident alien students from India and busi- employee. Also, the amounts from the tables don't in-
crease the social security tax or Medicare tax liability of
! ness apprentices from India aren't subject to this the employer or the employee, or the FUTA tax liability of
CAUTION procedure. the employer.
Instructions. To figure how much federal income tax to Example. An employer pays wages of $300 for a
withhold from the wages paid to a nonresident alien em- weekly payroll period to a married nonresident alien em-
ployee performing services in the United States, use the ployee. The nonresident alien has a properly completed
following steps. 2019 Form W-4 on file with the employer that shows mari-
tal status as "single" with one withholding allowance and
Step 1. Determine if the nonresident alien employee has indicated status as a nonresident alien on Form W-4,
submitted a Form W-4 for 2020 or later or an earlier Form line 6 (see Nonresident alien employee's Form W-4 in
W-4. Then add to the wages paid to the nonresident alien section 9 of Pub. 15 for details on how a 2021 Form W-4
employee for the payroll period the amount for the appli- must be completed). The employer determines the wages
cable type of Form W-4 and payroll period. to be used in the withholding tables by adding to the $300
If the nonresident alien employee was first paid wages amount of wages paid the amount of $158.70 from Ta-
before 2020 and has not submitted a Form W-4 for 2020 ble 1 under Step 1 ($458.70 total). The employer has a
or later, add the amount shown in Table 1 to their wages manual payroll system and prefers to use the Wage
for calculating federal income tax withholding. Bracket Method tables to figure withholding. The em-
ployer will use Worksheet 3 and the withholding tables in
Table 1 section 3 to determine the income tax withholding for the
Payroll Period Add Additional nonresident alien employee. In this example, the em-
Weekly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $158.70 ployer would withhold $32 in federal income tax from the
Biweekly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317.30 weekly wages of the nonresident alien employee.
The $158.70 added to wages for calculating income tax
Semimonthly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343.80
Monthly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687.50 withholding isn't reported on Form W-2 and doesn't in-
Quarterly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,062.50 crease the income tax liability of the employee. Also, the
Semiannually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,125.00 $158.70 added to wages doesn't affect the social security
Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,250.00 tax or Medicare tax liability of the employer or the em-
Daily or Miscellaneous (each day of the payroll ployee, or the FUTA tax liability of the employer.
period) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.70
Supplemental wage payment. This procedure for de-
If the nonresident alien employee has submitted a termining the amount of federal income tax withholding for
Form W-4 for 2020 or later or was first paid wages in nonresident alien employees doesn't apply to a supple-
2020 or later, add the amount shown in Table 2 to their mental wage payment (see section 7 in Pub. 15) if the
wages for calculating federal income tax withholding. 37% mandatory flat rate withholding applies or if the 22%
optional flat rate withholding is being used to figure in-
Table 2 come tax withholding on the supplemental wage payment.
Payroll Period Add Additional
Weekly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $241.30 Rounding
Biweekly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482.70
Semimonthly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522.90
Monthly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,045.80 To figure the income tax to withhold, you may reduce the
Quarterly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,137.50 last digit of the wages to zero, or figure the wages to the
Semiannually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,275.00 nearest dollar. You may also round the tax for the pay pe-
Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,550.00 riod to the nearest dollar. If rounding is used, it must be
Daily or Miscellaneous (each day of the payroll used consistently. Withheld tax amounts should be roun-
period) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.30 ded to the nearest whole dollar by dropping amounts un-
der 50 cents and increasing amounts from 50 to 99 cents
Step 2. Enter the amount figured in Step 1 above as the to the next dollar. For example, $2.30 becomes $2 and
total taxable wages on line 1a of the withholding work- $2.50 becomes $3.
sheet that you use to figure federal income tax withhold-
ing.

Page 4 Publication 15-T (2021)