The University of Texas at Arlington

General Information

The University is required by law to deduct Federal withholding taxes from each employee's paycheck based on the number of allowances claimed on the employee's W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate, and the subject salary for the payroll period in question. Blank W-4s are available in Payroll Services for the employee's convenience.

Claiming Exempt

Any employee who claims exempt from Federal Withholding Taxes must complete a new W-4 form each year and submit the new W-4 to Payroll Services. All exemptions are removed from the payroll system each January 1, and the payroll system defaults to "single" with "one" allowance if a new form is not filed. Payroll Services can not make refunds for withholding tax deducted before the exempt status is filed by the employee.

Non-resident Aliens

The Internal Revenue Service requires non-resident aliens to claim "single" with "one" allowance. Some exceptions do apply. Please contact Payroll Services for more information on these exceptions.

Methods of Calculating Withholding Tax

All encumbered, monthly checks paying for the same month or pay period will be added together for tax purposes even if written in separate months.

1. All unencumbered, hourly checks with a check date in the same month will be taxed together regardless of the pay period. They will also be added to any encumbered payments with a check date in the same month. Exceptions include vacation checks that are taxed separately and bonus or award checks that are taxed at a flat 25% rate.

2. If additional withholding is authorized by the employee, the amount of tax is first calculated according to the withholding allowances claimed on the W-4. The additional amount entered on line 6 of the W-4 is added to that figure. The additional withholding is added only once per month to the first check written.

3. Changes to withholding status made during the month will be applied to all payments that are taxed together even if some have already been paid using a different withholding status.

To calculate "Taxable Gross":