Tax Withholding Question?

Question

Hi All!

I have a question---If someone was put in as "married: surviving spouse/head of household" with 2 exemptions for their state tax withholding when they were SUPPOSED to be put in as just "married", will this cause any tax implications? Will the employee need to file an amended return at the end of the year?

Even if the employee was put in correctly as just "married", their exemptions would have stayed the same, it's just the title that is incorrect.

Thanks for your help in advance, I appreciate it!!

Answer 1

Since the only options on a W-4 are Married or Single when claiming filing status, a new W-4 form wouldn't be required.

Answer 2

What state has all those options?

For states whose income tax depends on federal, it's possible you would have more withheld than if you just filed as married.  But even then, I'd guess that to fill it out properly you are supposed to pick ONE of those options, to match your federal filing status, not ALL of them, and that when your employer is determining your withholding they only use one of them, so it would depend on which they use.