OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND LABOR RELATIONS
PAYROLL
FEDERAL AND/OR STATE TAX WITHHOLDING ISSUES
Change of Withholding Allowances
There may be valid reasons for changing your withholding allowances several times
a year. If you submit four or more changes in a calendar year, the Kingsborough Human
Resources Office is required to send your tax withholding forms to the New York City
Office of Payroll Administration (OPA) which will then forward them to the IRS or
NY State Department of Taxation and Finance for review.
Federal and State tax withholding forms may be obtained from the Human Resources Office
(Room A-201). You may also download them from the Internet, web addresses as follows:
Number of withholding allowances permitted
You may file withholding certificates with as many allowances as are justified by
your circumstances. If you claim more than ten withholding allowances on the federal
W-4 form or more than 14 allowances on the state IT-2104 form, you must complete a
Withholding Certificate Affirmation.
You can obtain a Withholding Certificate Affirmation from the Human Resources Office.
This form must be completed by you and then notarized. In addition to the Withholding
Certificate Affirmation you may, if you wish, supply supporting documentation. This
may consist of the prior year's tax returns, proof of qualifying home mortgage interest,
charitable contributions, state and local taxes (but not sales tax), medical expenses
as stipulated in IRS guidelines, number of dependents, other qualifying miscellaneous
deductions, or a letter from you to the agency stating your circumstances.
Copies of the unaltered withholding certificate and signed, unaltered affirmation,
along with copies of any supporting documentation you choose to provide, will be sent
to OPA. OPA forwards the documents to the IRS or NYS Dept of Taxation and Finance.
In some cases, the IRS or NYS may instruct the City of New York to change your number
of withholding allowances or marital status through Lock-in Letters.
Claiming tax-exempt status
The vast majority of employees of the City of New York are required to have taxes
withheld; however, certain situations exist that entitle an employee to be tax exempt
(federal tax exempt, NY State tax exempt, or both). No employees, including students,
are automatically exempt from tax liability. To claim exempt status, you must meet
certain conditions and submit a new tax withholding certificate and signed Withholding
Certificate Affirmation Form each calendar year. You may claim exemption from federal
withholding taxes for 2018 if both of the following apply:
- Last year you had a right to a refund of ALL federal income tax withholding because
you had no tax liability AND this year you expect a refund of ALL federal income tax
withheld because you expect to have no tax liability.
To claim exemption from New York State and City withholding taxes in 2018, you must
be able to certify the following conditions in writing:
- You are under age 18 OR a full-time student under age 25, OR over age 65.
- You had no New York income tax liability in the prior year AND
- You do not expect to have a New York tax liability in the current year.
If you meet the criteria for state exemption, you would file an IT-2104-E Certificate
of Exemption from Withholding instead of the IT-2104 form. This form can be obtained
from Human Resources in Room A-201 or it can be downloaded from www.tax.ny.gov
Forms claiming full exemption from tax withholding expire each year. If your exempt
status continues, you need to submit new forms annually. You must file a new W-4 form
by February 16 to continue to claim full exemption from federal taxes and/or a new
IT-2104-E form by April 30 to continue to claim full exemption from state and local
taxes. You must submit the Withholding Certificate Affirmation Form (may be downloaded
here) with your withholding certificate each year. The Withholding Certificate Affirmation
must be notarized and there is a Notary Public available in the Human Resources Office
(Room A-201).
If you do not submit new forms to your agency to continue to claim full exemption,
taxes will be withheld as if you were single with zero allowances until new acceptable
forms are submitted.
Contact information for questions about Federal or State taxes:
IRS by calling 1-800-829-1040 or click here for the IRS web site
NYS by calling 1-800-CALL-TAX (225-5829) or click here for the NYS TAX web site
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