--- title: "Employee Withholdings" slug: "employee-withholdings" updated: 2024-11-07T13:42:08Z published: 2024-11-07T13:42:08Z canonical: "www.procaresupport.com/employee-withholdings" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.procaresupport.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Employee Withholdings For each employee you’ll assign the appropriate withholdings for taxes, health insurance, etc. and any variables such as their filing status (single, married) and number of allowances claimed. [Embedded content](https://www.youtube.com/embed/cd4wj-pXlns) **Note**: the Payroll module does not support automatic calculation of nonresident alien withholding adjustments; however, you may still choose to withhold extra. See: [How to Withhold Extra Income Tax](https://www.procaresupport.com/procare-desktop/docs/witholdings#how-to-withhold-extra-income-tax). ## Getting There 1. At the main screen of Employee Data & Payroll [Look Up an Employee](/procare-desktop/docs/look-up-or-search-for-employee). 2. Click the *Withholdings* icon (building) on the toolbar. ![Image](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.procaresoftware.com/pdfs/Support+Site+Images/Desktop/Payroll/EmployeeWithholdings_1202.jpg) ## Assign Withholdings At the *Employee Standard Withholdings* screen a list of the withholdings currently assigned to this employee will be displayed. You may want to do one of several things: **Use Auto Fill** 1. The *Auto Fill* button will only be visible if this person has not yet had any withholdings assigned to them. Click *Auto Fill* to automatically assign Federal Income Tax. Social Security, Medicare, and State Income Tax (based on the state in which this person lives). 2. Edit the variables for **Federal Income Tax**, **Medicare**, and **State Income Tax** to specify the person’s filing status, allowances claimed and any additional amount they want withheld each paycheck. 1. Either dbl-click the name of the withholding (like Federal Income Tax) or click once on the name then click the *Variables* button. 2. Enter a *Value* for each item, like the filing status. For the Federal Income Tax, we support both the 2019 W4 and [the new 2020 W4 withholdings](/procare-desktop/docs/entering-the-new-w4-withholdings). 3. Click *Save > Exit*. 3. Use the *New Withhold* button to add any additional withholdings for things like health insurance, retirement, employee child care, etc. (see below). **Add New Withholdings** 1. To add withholdings click *New Withhold* (lower left). 2. At the *Withholding Editor* you’ll select the withholdings for this person. 3. Select a *Category* (upper left) such as Federal, State or General. **Note**: You may [Download General Withholding Formulas](/procare-desktop/docs/download-general-withholding-formulas-child-care-health-etc) for things like health, retirement and so forth or create [New General Withholdings](/procare-desktop/docs/create-a-new-payroll-withholding-formula) from scratch. 4. Choose a *Class Name* and/or *SubClass* like Income Tax, Health Plan, Retirement, etc. then click the *Load* button. 5. Type a *Comment* if you wish (optional). This would be something unique you wanted to remember about this withholding for this person. It might be appropriate if the item was unusual, like a garnishment, and you wanted to make a note about it. 6. Enter a *Value* for any variables that apply to this withholding such as the health plan amount, number of allowances, filing status (single, married), etc. 7. With the appropriate *Values* entered for this employee click Save (lower right). 8. To continue adding more withholdings to this person click *New* (upper right). 9. Repeat the steps by choosing a Category, Class Name and/ or SubClass, etc. for each item. Remember to click *Load*. **Note 1**: Some withholdings like Social Security and Medicare do not have any variable Values to enter. Once the withholding is loaded just click Save. **Note 2**: If you have assigned all items in a category (like Federal) that category will no longer appear as a choice when adding new withholdings. 10. When you have assigned the last withholding to this person click *Save > Exit* to return to the list of withholdings assigned to them. 11. Check the *Exclude* box in the following situations ONLY: Warning! If you “exclude” a federal or state withholding (income tax, Social Security, Medicare) the taxable earnings (and W2) will be affected. The person’s gross pay will not count toward taxable earnings for either employer or employee paid taxes AND the earnings will not be reported on the W2. In other words, neither party will pay tax on those earnings. This is almost ALWAYS WRONG. See: [How to handle employees who claim “exempt” on form W-4](https://www.procaresupport.com/procare-desktop/docs/witholdings#form-w4-employee-claims-they-are-exempt-from-withholdings-how-do-i-handle-that). b. To permanently exclude a withholding. Used when neither the employee nor employer pay any amount for that person *and* the earnings are not to be reported on the W2. **Talk with your tax advisor before using the “Exclude” checkbox**. 1. To temporarily turn off [General Withholdings](/procare-desktop/docs/create-a-new-payroll-withholding-formula) you create such as employee child care, etc. The withholding will be skipped for any paychecks issued to this person until you return and uncheck the box. 12. Review the withholdings to make sure they are correct. *Use the Up & Down* arrows to change their order as needed then click *Save > Exit*. **Edit Variables for a Withholding** You may change the variables for a withholding such as the person’s filing status, allowances claimed, amount for insurance, etc. 1. Either dbl-click the name of the withholding (like Federal Income Tax) or click once on the name then click the *Variables* button. 2. Enter a *Value* for each item like the filing status. 3. Click *Save > Exit*. **Delete a Withholding** 1. To delete (or remove) a withholding from a person click once on the name of the withholding to select it. 2. Click the *Delete* button. 3. Click *Exit*. **No State Income Tax?** If your state does not have income tax there is no need to use the “State” category. At the time of this publication, states without income tax included: AK, FL, NV, NH, SD, TX, TN, WA and WY. If one of these states is assigned to a person it won’t matter. The amount to withhold will be zero.