Verifying W-4 and State Forms

Abstract

The new hire must complete/sign/submit Form W-4 and state tax forms. As an onboarding/hiring manager, you need to verify the information on the forms.

Form W-4 (Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate) is a U. S. federal form (Internal Revenue Service). Employers use the form to ensure the correct amount of federal income tax is withheld from a hire's pay.

State tax withholding forms are U.S. state tax withholding forms. Employers use the forms to ensure the correct amount of state/local income tax is withheld from a hire's pay. Note: Not every state uses a state tax withholding form; some states use Form W-4 as their state withholding form; and some states use their own version of Form W-4 (and can have multiple forms).

Filling out, signing, and submitting federal Form W-4 and state forms are US-only tasks that hires complete (via the Onboard New Hire application).

All W-4 fields are reportable. Reports can be pulled for all W-4 fields. This is in combination with Job & Applicant entity fields.

Refer to the [W-4 and State Forms Guide] for more information.

1. New hires (using Onboard) complete/sign/submit federal Form W-4. This task appears as Onboarding US W4 on the My Tasks page. At the end of the Onboarding US W4 task, there is a completed/signed/submitted federal Form W-4 PDF. Note: This W-4 task must be completed before any state/local tax forms display on the My Tasks page.

2. New hires (using Onboard) complete/sign/submit state/local tax withholding forms. At the end of each state/local tax task, there is a completed/signed/submitted PDF. When there are multiple state/local tax forms, the new hire can:

   • Complete them in any order.

   • Complete only the ones that are relevant to the hire, and skip the others (by using an Opt-Out button). For example, there could be a disability or military form that does not apply to the hire. With the Opt-Out button, the task status is marked as Opted Out, and cannot be reopened.

3. Onboarding managers (using Onboard Manager) review the new hire's completed/signed/submitted Form W-4 PDF and state/local tax form PDFs.

   • This is not a task on the My Tasks page. Instead, the onboarding manager goes to a hire profile page and selects Documents from the menu. On the resulting Documents page, the onboarding manager selects the pointer by a Form W-4 PDF or a state/local PDF, and from the resulting menu, selects View Document to open a PDF.

   • The onboarding manager, on the Documents page, could also select New Hire Packet. This creates a PDF that contains every PDF completed by the hire. Then the onboarding manager selects the pointer by New Hire Packet, and from the resulting menu, selects Print Hire Packet (PDF) or Download Hire packet (PDF).

   • If there is a discrepancy that needs correction, the onboarding manager could create a new job for the hire, which would allow the hire to use Onboard to repeat all onboarding tasks (including W-4 and state activities). Note: There is no standalone W-4 activity, so there is no way to just have a hire redo the Onboarding US W4 task.