IRS Letter 2800C and Employer Federal Income Tax Withholding
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent this bulletin at 07/09/2020 03:13 PM EDT
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IRS Letter 2800C and Employer Federal Income Tax Withholding
IRS sends Letter 2800C, also called a “lock-in” letter, to instruct employers to follow a specific federal income tax withholding arrangement for an employee who doesn’t have enough income taxes withheld from their wages. The employee has 60 days from the date of the letter to discuss the determination with the IRS before the withholding arrangement takes effect. Starting 60 days after the date of the letter, the withholding rate in Letter 2800C is locked in and the employer must begin withholding from the employee at that new rate.
There are two situations in which the employer may withhold at a rate that is different from the rate in Letter 2800C. The first occurs if the employee submits a new Form W-4 with a statement supporting a decrease in their withholding rate and the IRS approves. In this situation, the IRS will inform the employer and the employee with a Letter 2808C. Letter 2808C specifies the changes to the employee’s withholding rate that have been approved by the IRS. The changes in Letter 2808C are effective immediately. There is no 60-day waiting period.
The second situation involves increasing the rate of withholding above what is stated in the “lock-in” letter. This situation occurs if the employee submits a new Form W-4 that results in more withholding than the rate in the “lock-in” letter. In this situation, the employer may accept and process the employee’s request. The employer must disregard any new Form W-4 the employee submits that decreases the amount of withholding. Employers should block the employee’s access to make changes to online Forms W-4 if that access may allow the employee to decrease their withholding below the rate specified in a Letter 2800C. Employers that do not withhold federal income tax from their employee as instructed by a “lock-in” letter will be liable for paying the additional tax required to be withheld.
You can find more information at Withholding Compliance Q&As and view our Lock-In Letter Video. If you have a technical or procedural question relating to government entities, please visit IRS.gov. If you have account related questions, call TE/GE Customer Account Services at 877-829-5500. Subscribe to the FSLG Newsletter. This message was distributed automatically from the mailing list FSLG. Please do not reply to this message. |
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