December 26, 2018

The IRS has released the 2019 version of Form W-4(Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate) and instructions. Initial plans called for substantial revisions to the form to take into account provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. However, after considering feedback from the payroll and tax communities, the IRS decided to postpone the form’s makeover until the 2020 tax year. Therefore, the 2019 form is similar to the 2018 version. However, the Form W-4 Deductions, Adjustments, and Additional Income Worksheet has been updated to reflect the increase in the annual withholding allowance from $4,150 to $4,200 in 2019. Also, the worksheet has been updated for the increase in the standard deduction for 2019 from (1) $24,000 to $24,400 for joint filers and surviving spouses; (2) $18,000 to $18,350 for heads of household; and (3) $12,000 to $12,200 for single filers and married individuals filing separately. The 2019 Form W-4 can be accessed at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf .