Tax Withholding Explained

Answer 1

The tax law on payroll withholding has been in existence for decades, allowing the IRS and state tax agencies to obtain potential tax revenue as soon as possible. Written into both federal and state laws, withholding requirements are placed on all employers to make sure a specific portion of workers' earnings is captured from payroll as soon as a paycheck is created. In some cases withholding is also applied in non-payroll situations where a contractor has not provided sufficient tax information to an employer.

Withholding in and of itself is not a tax, even though it may seem like one to a paycheck recipient. Depending how much is earned, a paycheck recipient will realize the effect of withholding for federal tax, state tax, Medicare, and social security. In some regions withholding may also occur for local taxes as well. The funds are redirected to the respective tax agency and paid in the name of the person who earned the money. At the end of the tax year the workers receives an IRS W-2 form spelling out how much was earned at the given job and how much was withheld.

This information is then submitted with a tax return to the IRS and state tax agencies. If the worker paid too much, then the funds come back as a tax refund. If he did not have enough withheld, the amount already paid is deducted from taxes owed and the remainder is due when the income tax return is filed.

In the view of many critics tax withholding is essentially providing the government an interest-free loan. Workers don't get the see the funds until an income tax return, and for most workers earning less than $50,000 most of the funds come back. As a result, the government is financing itself for free on thousands of workers. However, federal law was written to make sure the IRS was able to catch the taxable money as quickly as possible for the government's use and the requirement hasn't changed. Most state laws mirror the same requirements.

In the case of contractors withholding of up to 28 percent can be required on an employer if the contractor doesn't provide tax identification information to the employer. This is an additional method by which the IRS can make sure it either tracks the contractor or gets the contractor's taxable funds if the business has no immediate information provided.