The Wisconsin Department of Revenue has revised Form WT-4, Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate/New Hire Reporting, to reflect changes to the federal Form W-4.
New Federal Form W-4 Cannot Be Used for State Withholding
Beginning in 2020, the 2020 federal Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate, cannot be used for Wisconsin withholding tax purposes. The federal form will no longer allow federal withholding allowances. Currently, an employee may use federal Form W-4 as an acceptable substitute for Wisconsin Form WT-4, if the employee’s federal allowances equal his or her state exemptions. Since federal withholding allowances will be removed, the new federal Form W-4 cannot be used for state withholding purposes.
Newly Hired Employees, Employees Who Make Changes
Also beginning in 2020, all newly hired employees in Wisconsin will be required to provide Form WT-4 to their employer. Existing employees who change the number of their state withholding exemptions must also provide Form WT-4 to their employer, beginning in 2020. Existing employees are not required to provide Form WT-4 to their employer in 2020, if the employee wants to keep the same number of state withholding exemptions used in 2019 (unless the employer requests it).
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Lia Coniglio, Esq., is Managing Editor of PayState Update and Manager of State Payroll Information Resources for the APA.
