The APA Government Relations Task Force Subcommittee on Federal Issues responded to an IRS informal request for information on the Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate, asking whether providing the form in multiple languages would create a burden for payroll management. Currently, the Form W-4 is available in English and Spanish.
The APA supported translation of Form W-4 into multiple languages with these recommendations:
- Employers should have the choice on which translated forms to use based upon the language needs of their employees. For example, if an employer does not have any Russian-speaking employees, that employer should not be required to make that form available to its employees.
- Translations should be easily understood. For example, word selection is very important to ensure employees understand the instructions.
- Keep the boxes and lines in which employees enter their data and withholding amounts on the form the same as the English version.
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Alice P. Jacobsohn, Esq. is Director of Government Relations for the APA.
