W-4 Form
The University of Nebraska is required to withhold federal and state taxes from certain employee wages, using pre-defined IRS and Nebraska State Income Tax withholding tables.
Each employee must complete a W-4 form when beginning work at the university. If an employee does not complete the W-4 form, federal and state taxes will be withheld using the single status and zero withholding allowances. The university will not refund any taxes that were withheld due to an employee's neglect to complete the W-4 form. To make changes to your W-4 allowances contact your department Payroll Clerk or the Campus Payroll Office.
To determine the correct number of allowances you should claim on your W-4, complete the Personal Allowances Worksheet provided by the IRS.
IRS Personal Withholding Calculator
A W-4 remains in effect until an employee submits a new one except in the case where an employee claimed to be exempt. An exempt employee must complete a new W-4 each calendar year. See further details regarding exempt status below.
If an employee is to receive an award payment or additional pay i.e. overload pay, summer research, summer teaching it is the responsibility of the department to notify the employee that he/she may want to change his/her W-4 withholding status in order to prevent over taxation due to the additional income. An employee may request the Payroll Office to provide him/her with a tax projection analysis worksheet based on the various exemptions.
Exemption from Income Tax Withholding
The W-4 for an employee who has indicated that he/she is exempt from withholding expires on February 15th of each calendar year. The Payroll Office will send a letter of notification in late January of each calendar year to employees who have completed their W-4's indicating that they are exempt from withholding. If the employee qualifies and wishes to continue being exempt from federal income tax withholding, the employee must complete a new W-4 and submit it the Payroll Office by the deadline indicated in the letter. To determine if you are eligible to claim exempt on your W-4, see the Exemption from Withholding section of IRS Publication 515.Nebraska State Income Tax
Nebraska follows federal rules for determining the number of allowances to claim for NE state tax withholding purposes, unless an alternative withholding percentage is required by state law. Nebraska Dept of Revenue State Income TaxNonresident Aliens
In general, if you pay wages to nonresident aliens, you must withhold income tax (unless exempted by regulations), social security and Medicare taxes as you would for a U. S. citizen. However, income tax withholding from the wages of nonresident aliens is subject to special rules. Please see the instructions for completing the W-4 Form for NRA in SAPPHIRE. Note: Nonresident alien students from India are not subject to the additional income tax withholding requirement.W-2 Tax Forms
By January 31st of each calendar year, the university is required to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the State of Nebraska Department of Revenue on a W-2 form for each employee the taxable wages and related compensation, income taxes withheld and certain payroll deduction for the previous calendar year. Wages are always reported for the year in which they are paid.All University of Nebraska – City Campus W-2's will be mailed to the employee’s permanent home address in the University SAP payroll system prior to January 31st of each calendar year.
It is the employee’s responsibility to notify his/her payroll clerk of any address change. If an employee has already separated from the University, it is his/her responsibility to notify the Payroll Office of his/her permanent mailing address.
If an employee does not receive his/her W-2 for wages earned in the previous calendar year by February 10 of each calendar year, he/she should contact the university City Campus Payroll Office to determine if the W-2 had been returned to the Payroll Office by the U. S. Postal Service. If an employee did not receive his/her W-2 and it was not returned by the U.S. Postal Service, he/she may request a duplicate by completing a request for duplicate and providing proof of identification via a picture ID.