Internal Revenue Bulletin 2020-10 (PDF rendition): IRS Notices

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Bulletin No. 2020–10
March 2, 2020
HIGHLIGHTS
OF THIS ISSUE
These synopses are intended only as aids to the reader in
identifying the subject matter covered. They may not be
relied upon as authoritative interpretations.
EMPLOYMENT TAX
REG-132741-17, page 458.
This document sets forth proposed amendments to the Em-
ployment Tax Regulations (26 CFR part 31) under sections
3401 and 3402 of the Internal Revenue Code. Generally,
these proposed regulations update the regulations under sec-
tions 3401 and 3402 to conform to the changes to sections
3401 and 3402 made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Pub. L.
No. 115-97, 131 Stat. 2054 (2017) (TCJA) and other legisla-
tion enacted since the regulations were last revised. In addi-
tion, these proposed regulations are designed to accommo-
date the redesigned 2020 Form W-4, “Employee’s Withholding
Certificate,” and related wage withholding tables and compu-
tational procedures established by the IRS and reflected in
Publication 15-T, “Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods.”
INCOME TAX
Notice 2020-10, page 456.
Resident populations of the 50 states, the District of Colum-
bia, Puerto Rico, and the insular areas for purposes of de-
termining the 2020 calendar year (1) state housing credit
ceiling under section 42(h) of the Code, (2) private activity
bond volume cap under section 146, and (3) private activity
bond volume limit under section 142(k) are reproduced.
Finding Lists begin on page ii.

The IRS Mission
Provide America’s taxpayers top-quality service by helping
them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and en-
force the law with integrity and fairness to all.
Introduction
The Internal Revenue Bulletin is the authoritative instrument
of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for announcing of-
ficial rulings and procedures of the Internal Revenue Service
and for publishing Treasury Decisions, Executive Orders, Tax
Conventions, legislation, court decisions, and other items of
general interest. It is published weekly.
It is the policy of the Service to publish in the Bulletin all sub-
stantive rulings necessary to promote a uniform application
of the tax laws, including all rulings that supersede, revoke,
modify, or amend any of those previously published in the
Bulletin. All published rulings apply retroactively unless other-
wise indicated. Procedures relating solely to matters of inter-
nal management are not published; however, statements of
internal practices and procedures that affect the rights and
duties of taxpayers are published.
Revenue rulings represent the conclusions of the Service
on the application of the law to the pivotal facts stated in
the revenue ruling. In those based on positions taken in rul-
ings to taxpayers or technical advice to Service field offices,
identifying details and information of a confidential nature are
deleted to prevent unwarranted invasions of privacy and to
comply with statutory requirements.
Rulings and procedures reported in the Bulletin do not have the
force and effect of Treasury Department Regulations, but they
may be used as precedents. Unpublished rulings will not be
relied on, used, or cited as precedents by Service personnel in
the disposition of other cases. In applying published rulings and
procedures, the effect of subsequent legislation, regulations,
court decisions, rulings, and procedures must be considered,
and Service personnel and others concerned are cautioned
against reaching the same conclusions in other cases unless
the facts and circumstances are substantially the same.
The Bulletin is divided into four parts as follows:
Part I.—1986 Code.
This part includes rulings and decisions based on provisions
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Part II.—Treaties and Tax Legislation.
This part is divided into two subparts as follows: Subpart A,
Tax Conventions and Other Related Items, and Subpart B,
Legislation and Related Committee Reports.
Part III.—Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous.
To the extent practicable, pertinent cross references to these
subjects are contained in the other Parts and Subparts. Also
included in this part are Bank Secrecy Act Administrative
Rulings. Bank Secrecy Act Administrative Rulings are issued
by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Assistant
Secretary (Enforcement).
Part IV.—Items of General Interest.
This part includes notices of proposed rulemakings, disbar-
ment and suspension lists, and announcements.
The last Bulletin for each month includes a cumulative index
for the matters published during the preceding months. These
monthly indexes are cumulated on a semiannual basis, and are
published in the last Bulletin of each semiannual period.
The contents of this publication are not copyrighted and may be reprinted freely. A citation of the Internal Revenue Bulletin as the source would be appropriate.
March 2, 2020 Bulletin No. 2020–10

Part III
2020 Calendar Year
Resident Population
Figures
Notice 2020-10
This notice advises State and local
housing credit agencies that allocate
low-income housing tax credits under § 42
of the Internal Revenue Code, and States
and other issuers of tax-exempt private
activity bonds under § 141, of the pop-
ulation figures to use in calculating: (1)
the 2020 calendar year population-based
component of the State housing credit
ceiling (Credit Ceiling) under § 42(h)(3)
(C)(ii); (2) the 2020 calendar year volume
cap (Volume Cap) under § 146; and (3) the
2020 volume limit (Volume Limit) under
§ 142(k)(5).
Generally, § 146(j) requires determin-
ing the population figures for the popula-
tion-based component of both the Credit
Ceiling and the Volume Cap for any cal-
endar year on the basis of the most recent
census estimate of the resident population
of a State (or issuing authority) released
by the U.S. Census Bureau before the be-
ginning of the calendar year. Similarly,
§ 142(k)(5) bases the Volume Limit on the
State population.
Sections 42(h)(3)(H) and 146(d)(2)
require adjusting for inflation the popula-
tion-based component of the Credit Ceil-
ing and the Volume Cap. The Credit Ceil-
ing adjustment for the 2020 calendar year
is in Rev. Proc. 2019-44, 2019-47 I.R.B.
1093. Section 3.10 of Rev. Proc. 2019-44
provides that, for calendar year 2020, the
amount for calculating the Credit Ceiling
under § 42(h)(3)(C)(ii) is the greater of
$2.8125 multiplied by the State popula-
tion, or $3,217,500. Further, section 3.21
of Rev. Proc. 2019-44 provides that the
amount for calculating the Volume Cap
under § 146(d)(1) for calendar year 2020
is the greater of $105 multiplied by the
State population, or $321,775,000.
For the 50 states, the District of Colum-
bia, and Puerto Rico, the population fig-
ures for calculating the Credit Ceiling, the
Volume Cap, and the Volume Limit for the
2020 calendar year are the resident pop-
ulation estimates released electronically
by the U.S. Census Bureau on December
30, 2019, and described in Press Release
CB19-198. For American Samoa, Guam,
the Northern Mariana Islands, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands, the population figures
for the 2020 calendar year are the 2019
midyear population figures in the U.S.
Census Bureau’s International Data Base
(IDB). The U.S. Census Bureau electron-
ically announced an update of the IDB
on December 18, 2019, in Press Release
CB19-TPS.54.
For convenience, these figures are re-
printed below.
Resident Population Figures
Alabama 4,903,185
Alaska 731,545
American Samoa 50,135
Arizona 7,278,717
Arkansas 3,017,804
California 39,512,223
Colorado 5,758,736
Connecticut 3,565,287
Delaware 973,764
District of Columbia 705,749
Florida 21,477,737
Georgia 10,617,423
Guam 168,147
Hawaii 1,415,872
Idaho 1,787,065
Illinois 12,671,821
Indiana 6,732,219
Iowa 3,155,070
Kansas 2,913,314
Kentucky 4,467,673
Louisiana 4,648,794
March 2, 2020 456 Bulletin No. 2020–10

Maine 1,344,212
Maryland 6,045,680
Massachusetts 6,892,503
Michigan 9,986,857
Minnesota 5,639,632
Mississippi 2,976,149
Missouri 6,137,428
Montana 1,068,778
Nebraska 1,934,408
Nevada 3,080,156
New Hampshire 1,359,711
New Jersey 8,882,190
New Mexico 2,096,829
New York 19,453,561
North Carolina 10,488,084
North Dakota 762,062
Northern Mariana Islands 51,718
Ohio 11,689,100
Oklahoma 3,956,971
Oregon 4,217,737
Pennsylvania 12,801,989
Puerto Rico 3,193,694
Rhode Island 1,059,361
South Carolina 5,148,714
South Dakota 884,659
Tennessee 6,829,174
Texas 28,995,881
Utah 3,205,958
Vermont 623,989
Virginia 8,535,519
Virgin Islands, U.S. 106,631
Washington 7,614,893
West Virginia 1,792,147
Wisconsin 5,822,434
Wyoming 578,759
The principal authors of this notice are
Michael J. Torruella Costa, Office of the
Associate Chief Counsel (Passthroughs
and Special Industries), and Timothy L.
Jones, Office of the Associate Chief Coun-
sel (Financial Institutions and Products).
For further information regarding this no-
tice, please contact Mr. Torruella Costa at
(202) 317-4137 (not a toll-free number).
Bulletin No. 2020–10 457 March 2, 2020

March 2, 2020 458 Bulletin No. 2020–10
Part IV
Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking
Income Tax Withholding
from Wages
REG-132741-17
AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service
(IRS), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
SUMMARY: This document sets forth
proposed regulations that provide guid-
ance for employers concerning the
amount of Federal income tax to withhold
from employee’s wages, implementing
recent changes in the Internal Revenue
Code made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
(TCJA), and reflecting the redesigned
2020 Form W-4 and related IRS publica-
tions. These proposed regulations affect
employers that pay wages subject to Fed-
eral income tax withholding and employ-
ees who receive wages subject to Federal
income tax withholding.
DATES: Written (including electronic)
comments and requests for a public hear-
ing must be received by April 13, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Submit electronic sub-
missions via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at www.regulations.gov (indicate
IRS and REG-132741-17) by following
the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted to the Feder-
al eRulemaking Portal, comments cannot
be edited or withdrawn. The Department
of the Treasury (Treasury Department)
and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
will publish for public availability any
comment received to their public dock-
et, whether submitted electronically or in
hard copy. Send hard copy submissions
to: CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG-132741-17),
room 5203, Internal Revenue Service,
PO Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station,
Washington, DC 20044.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT: Concerning the proposed
regulations, Mikhail Zhidkov of the Of-
fice of Associate Chief Counsel (Employ-
ee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, and
Employment Taxes), (202) 317-4774;
concerning submission of comments or
requests for a hearing, please contact Re-
gina Johnson at (202) 317-6901 (not toll-
free numbers).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
BACKGROUND
General statutory and regulatory frame-
work
TCJA Changes
Guidance Addressing TCJA
2019 Form W-4 and 2019 Publication 15
2020 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding
Certificate
2020 Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate
for Pension or Annuity Payments
EXPLANATION OF PROVISIONS AND
SUMMARY OF COMMENTS
1. Number of Withholding Exemptions
Claimed
2. Definitions and Interchangeable
Terms
3. Percentage Method of Withholding
4. Wage Bracket Method of Withhold-
ing
5. Determination and Disclosure of Fil-
ing Status
6. Withholding Allowance
7. Additional Withholding Allowance
a. Estimated tax deductions
b. Estimated tax credits
c. Estimated tax payments
d. Definitions and special rules
8. Furnishing of Withholding Allow-
ance Certificates
a. Commencement of employment
b. Change of status
c. Special rules relating to with-
holding allowance certificates
d. Submission of certain withhold-
ing allowance certificates
e. Notice of maximum withholding
allowance permitted
9. When a Withholding Allowance Cer-
tificate Takes Effect
10. Period During Which Withholding Ex-
emption Certificates Remain in Effect
11. Effective Period of a Withholding Al-
lowance Certificate
12. Form and Contents of Withholding
Allowance Certificates
13. Withholding Exemptions for Nonres-
ident Alien Individuals
14. Supplemental Wage Payments
15. Alternative Withholding Methods
16. Additional Withholding
17. Increases in Withholding
18. Exemption from Withholding
PROPOSED APPLICABILITY DATE
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT
SPECIAL ANALYSES
STATEMENT OF AVAILABILITY OF
IRS DOCUMENTS
COMMENTS AND PUBLIC HEARING
DRAFTING INFORMATION
LIST OF SUBJECTS IN 26 CFR Part 31
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE
REGULATIONS
Background
This document sets forth proposed
amendments to the Employment Tax Reg-
ulations (26 CFR part 31) under sections
3401 and 3402 of the Internal Revenue
Code (Code). Generally, these proposed
regulations update the regulations under
sections 3401 and 3402 to conform to the
changes to sections 3401 and 3402 made
by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Pub. L. No.
115-97, 131 Stat. 2054 (2017) (TCJA) and
other legislation enacted since the regula-
tions were last revised. In addition, these
proposed regulations are designed to ac-
commodate the redesigned 2020 Form
W-4, “Employee’s Withholding Certifi-
cate,” and related wage withholding tables
and computational procedures established
by the IRS and reflected in Publication
15-T, “Federal Income Tax Withholding
Methods.”
General statutory and regulatory
framework
Section 3402(a)(1) provides that, ex-
cept as otherwise provided in section
3402, every employer making a payment
of wages shall deduct and withhold from
such wages a tax determined in accordance
with tables or computational procedures

Bulletin No. 2020–10 459 March 2, 2020
prescribed by the Secretary of the Trea-
sury. Section 3402(a)(1) further provides
that any tables or procedures prescribed
under section 3402(a)(1) shall be in such
form, and provide for such amounts to be
deducted and withheld, as the Secretary
determines to be most appropriate to carry
out the purposes of chapter 1 (imposition
of individual income tax). Section 3402
sets forth certain methods of withholding
but also gives the Secretary broad regu-
latory authority in providing for tables or
computational procedures for income tax
withholding.
How an employer applies the withhold-
ing tables or computational procedures
generally depends on the withholding al-
lowance certificate the employee furnish-
es the employer. Under section 3402(f)(5),
with holding allowance certificates must be
in such form and include such information
as the Secretary may by regulations pre-
scribe. Section 31.3402(f)(5)-1 of the cur-
rent Employment Tax Regulations (here-
inafter, “current regulations”) provides
that the withholding allowance certificate
is the Form W-4. An employee who re-
ceives wages subject to withholding under
section 3402 is required to furnish his or
her employer a Form W-4 on commence-
ment of employment or, generally, within
10 days after the employee experiences a
“change of status” that reduces the “with-
holding allowance” to which the employ-
ee is entitled. See section 3402(f)(2).
An employee completes Form W-4
based on the employee’s personal tax sit-
uation by applying the factors listed in
section 3402(f)(1), which, for 2019 and
earlier years, were incorporated into the
worksheets to the Form W-4. One of those
factors reflects personal exemptions. See
Section 3402(f)(1)(A).
1
Also, under sec-
tion 3402(f)(1)(D), an employee may take
into account additional amounts under
section 3402(m), which allows employees
to take into account items such as itemized
deductions in the manner provided under
regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
Generally, for 2019 and earlier, an em-
ployee could make three entries on Form
W-4 that could affect the amount of in-
come tax withheld from the employee’s
wages: the employee’s marital status, a
number of withholding allowances based
on the factors in section 3402(f)(1), and
any additional amount, not otherwise re-
quired, that the employee requested to be
withheld from the employee’s wages. See
sections 3402(l) (marital status), 3402(f)
(1) (withholding allowance), and 3402(i)
(increases in amount of withholding not
otherwise required under section 3402).
2
Once an employee completes a valid
Form W-4, the employee must furnish the
Form W-4 to the employer. The employ-
er puts the Form W-4 into effect in ac-
cordance with the timing rules in section
3402(f)(3). Under §31.3401(e)-1(b) of the
current regulations, the employer is not re-
quired to ascertain whether the number of
allowances an employee claims is greater
than the number of withholding allow-
ances to which the employee is entitled.
3

Once in effect, the employer generally ap-
plies the entries on an employee’s Form
W-4 to compute the amount of income tax
to withhold from the employee’s regular
wages under either the percentage method
of withholding or the wage bracket meth-
od of withholding. See section 3402(b)
and (c).
4
TCJA changes
Prior to TCJA, one withholding ex-
emption was equal to the amount of one
personal exemption provided in section
151(b), prorated to the payroll period.
See section 3402(a)(2) (2017). TCJA en-
acted section 151(d)(5), which reduced
the personal exemption amount to zero
for the years 2018–2025. See TCJA sec-
tion 11041(a). TCJA also increased the
standard deduction under section 63, in-
creased the child tax credit under section
24, and created a new credit under section
24 for other dependents. See TCJA sec-
tions 11021 and 11022.
TCJA permanently modified the wage
withholding rules in section 3402(a)(2)
and, replaced “withholding exemptions”
with a “withholding allowance, prorated
to the payroll period.” See TCJA section
11041(c)(1). TCJA also repealed section
3401(e), which, prior to TCJA, provid-
ed, for purposes of chapter 24 (relating
to collection of income tax at source on
wages), that the “number of withholding
exemptions claimed” meant the number
of withholding exemptions claimed in
a withholding exemption certificate in
effect under section 3402(f) or in effect
under the corresponding section of prior
law, except that if no such certificate was
in effect, the number of withholding ex-
emptions claimed was considered zero.
See TCJA section 11041(c)(2)(A).
TCJA modified section 3402(f), and
defined a “withholding allowance,” which
is determined based on the factors listed
in section 3402(f)(1). See TCJA section
11041(c)(2)(B). TCJA further changed the
list of factors on which the withholding al-
lowance is based and added that the with-
holding allowance is determined based
on rules determined by the Secretary.
See TCJA section 11041(c)(2)(B). This
change to section 3402(f)(1) revised sec-
tion 3402(f)(1)(C), entitling an employee
to take into account the number of indi-
viduals for which the employee expects to
take an income tax credit under section 24
instead of the number of individuals with
respect to whom the employee reasonably
expects to claim a deduction under section
151. Section 3402(f)(1)(D) also changed
an employee’s entitlement to take into
account the standard deduction from an
amount generally equal to one withhold-
ing exemption to the standard deduction
allowable to such employee (one-half
of the standard deduction in the case of
an employee who is married and whose
spouse is an employee receiving wages
subject to withholding). Finally, TCJA
added section 3402(f)(1)(F), which pro-
vides that the employee’s withholding al-
lowance also takes into account “whether
1
Section 151(d)(5) suspends the deduction for personal exemptions for calendar years 2018–2025.
2
As discussed later in this preamble, an employee may also claim exemption from withholding under section 3402(n) on a valid Form W-4. Other special rules could also apply to affect the
amount of tax withheld, such as for nonresident aliens or lock-in letters, discussed later in this preamble.
3
Under §31.3402(f)(2)-1(e) of the current regulations, an employer must disregard an “invalid” Form W-4 for purposes of computing withholding. An invalid Form W-4 is one that includes
any alteration or unauthorized addition or that the employee clearly indicates to be false.
4
Special rules apply to “supplemental wages” under §31.3402(g)-1 of the current regulations. In the case of supplemental wages in excess of $1,000,000, employers must disregard the
entries on the employee’s Form W-4 and apply a mandatory flat rate of withholding. In the case of supplemental wages of less than $1,000,000, employers may either disregard the entries
on the employee’s Form W-4 and withhold using the optional flat rate or may use an aggregate procedure, taking into consideration the entries on the Form W-4 furnished by the employee.

March 2, 2020 460 Bulletin No. 2020–10
the employee has withholding allowance
certificates in effect with respect to more
than one employer.” See TCJA section
11041(c)(2)(B).
TCJA also made conforming changes
to the “change of status” rules in section
3402(f)(2), changing “withholding ex-
emptions” to “withholding allowance,”
struck out “exemption,” and inserted “al-
lowance” in various subsections of sec-
tion 3402. This resulted in a conforming
change to the statutory name of the with-
holding exemption certificate in section
3402(f)(5) to the withholding allowance
certificate. See TCJA sections 11041(c)(2)
(B) and (C).
TCJA amended section 3402(m) by
changing the reference from “withholding
allowances” to “withholding allowance.”
See TCJA sections 11041(c)(2)(D) and
(E).
TCJA added the section 199A deduc-
tion to the list of deductions in section
3402(m)(1) that an employee may take
into account in determining the additional
withholding allowance that the employ-
ee is entitled to claim on Form W-4, and
struck the reference to section 62(a)(10)
in section 3402(m)(1) with respect to cer-
tain payments made under divorce or sep-
aration instruments previously described
in section 62(a)(10). See TCJA sections
11011(b)(4) and 11051(b)(2)(B). Under
section 11051(c) of TCJA, there are spe-
cial effective date provisions with respect
to this change, which are discussed in
more detail in section 7(a) of the Explana-
tion of Provisions.
TCJA changed the rules under section
3405(a)(4) for withholding from period-
ic payments under section 3405(a) when
no withholding allowance certificate has
been furnished, changing the require-
ment that the default rate of withholding
be determined “by treating the payee as a
married individual claiming 3 withhold-
ing exemptions” to a requirement that the
default rate of withholding be determined
“under rules prescribed by the Secretary.”
TCJA also made conforming changes to
the rules under section 3405(a) for with-
holding from periodic payments of pen-
sions, annuities, and certain other deferred
income, changing “exemption” to “allow-
ance” in section 3405(a)(3) and (4).
The legislative history of TCJA states
that “the Secretary of the Treasury is to
develop rules to determine the amount of
tax required to be withheld by employers
from a taxpayer’s wages.” H.R. Rep. No.
115-466, at 203 (2017).
Guidance addressing TCJA and
comments received
TCJA allowed the Secretary of the
Treasury to administer section 3402 be-
fore January 1, 2019 without regard to
the changes described above. See TCJA
section 11041(f)(2). Nevertheless, on Jan-
uary 11, 2018, the Treasury Department
and the IRS released Notice 1036, “Ear-
ly Release Copies of the 2018 Percentage
Method Tables for Income Tax Withhold-
ing,” which implemented TCJA’s tax rate
changes, standard deduction, and suspen-
sion of the deduction under section 151.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
designed the 2018 withholding tables to
work with the Forms W-4 that employees
had already furnished their employers.
On February 28, 2018, the Treasury De-
partment and the IRS updated Form W-4,
“Employee’s Withholding Allowance
Certificate,” incorporating TCJA’s chang-
es in the 2018 Form W-4’s worksheets and
updated the online withholding calculator
to reflect TCJA changes. Notice 2018-14,
2018-7 I.R.B. 353, published February
12, 2018, allowed continued use of the
2017 Form W-4 temporarily in 2018 and
included a relief provision stating that em-
ployees who experienced changes in their
tax circumstances solely attributable to
TCJA were not required to furnish a new
Form W-4 to their employers in 2018. No-
tice 2018-14 also provided that, for 2018,
the rules for withholding from periodic
payments under section 3405(a) when
no withholding allowance certificate has
been furnished would parallel the rules for
prior years and would be based on treating
the payee as a married individual claiming
three withholding allowances.
Notice 2018-92, 2018-51 I.R.B. 1038,
published December 17, 2018, addressed
some of TCJA’s changes to section 3402
and provided interim rules for the 2019
calendar year. Section 3 of Notice 2018-
92 addressed TCJA’s use of “withholding
allowance” (singular) and provided that
withholding allowances (plural) were to
be used for the computational procedures
in 2019, consistent with Form W-4 for
2019 (discussed in the next section of this
preamble) and prior years. Under section
3 of Notice 2018-92, any reference to a
withholding exemption in the regulations
and other guidance under section 3402
was to be applied as if it were a reference
to a withholding allowance. Section 11 of
Notice 2018-92 solicited comments gen-
erally, but no comments on this issue were
received.
Section 4 of Notice 2018-92 extended
the relief provided in Notice 2018-14 for
changes in tax circumstances solely attrib-
utable to TCJA. Section 5 addressed the
repeal of section 3401(e), noted earlier in
this preamble, and provided that an em-
ployee who fails to furnish a valid Form
W-4 will be treated as single but entitled
to the number of withholding allowances
provided in accordance with computa-
tional procedures set forth by the IRS in
Publication 15 (Circular E), “Employer’s
Tax Guide.” For 2019, the computational
procedures in Publication 15 provided that
employees who fail to furnish a Form W-4
were treated as single with zero withhold-
ing allowances. One comment on this is-
sue was received and is discussed in Sec-
tion 8(a) of the Explanation of Provisions.
Section 6 of Notice 2018-92 allowed
employees to include the employee’s es-
timated deduction under section 199A in
determining the additional withholding
allowance under section 3402(m) that the
employee is entitled to claim on Form
W-4. Section 6 of Notice 2018-92 request-
ed comments with respect to any addi-
tional items employees should be able to
claim under section 3402(m), but no com-
ments on this issue were received.
Section 7 of Notice 2018-92 allowed
taxpayers to use the online withholding
calculator (now called the Tax Withhold-
ing Estimator) or Publication 505, “Tax
Withholding and Estimated Tax,” in lieu
of the Form W-4 worksheets. One com-
ment was received on the online withhold-
ing calculator and is discussed in section
7(b) of the Explanation of Provisions.
Section 8 of Notice 2018-92 request-
ed comments on alternative withholding
methods under section 3402(h) and an-
nounced that the IRS and the Treasury
Department intend to eliminate the com-
bined income tax withholding and em-
ployee Federal Insurance Contributions
Act (FICA) tax withholding tables un-

Bulletin No. 2020–10 461 March 2, 2020
der §31.3402(h)(4)-1(b). No comments
on this issue were received. Section 9 of
Notice 2018-92 reflected a modification
of the notification requirements for the
withholding compliance program. Spe-
cifically, employers in receipt of a notice
prescribing a maximum number of with-
holding allowances an employee may
claim (a lock-in letter) were instructed not
to send a response to the IRS when the
employer no longer employs the employ-
ee (within the meaning of §31.3402(f)(2)-
1(g)(2)(iii)). One commenter thanked the
Treasury Department and the IRS for the
change to the notice requirements in the
lock-in letter program.
Section 10 of Notice 2018-92 provid-
ed that, for 2019, the rules for withhold-
ing from periodic payments under section
3405(a) when no withholding certificate
has been furnished would parallel the
rules for prior years and would be based
on treating the payee as a married individ-
ual claiming three withholding allowanc-
es.
2019 Form W-4 and 2019 Publication 15
In June 2018, the Treasury Department
and the IRS released for public comment
a draft 2019 Form W-4 and draft instruc-
tions. Unlike the relatively minor changes
made to Form W-4 in recent years prior to
that, the 2019 draft Form W-4 and instruc-
tions incorporated significant changes in-
tended to improve the accuracy of income
tax withholding and make the withholding
system more transparent for employees.
Many comments were received on the
draft form and instructions. In response
to comments received from stakehold-
ers, the Treasury Department and the IRS
announced on September 20, 2018, that
implementation of the redesigned form
would be postponed until 2020, and that
the Treasury Department and the IRS
would continue working closely with
stakeholders as additional changes were
made to the form for 2020. In addition,
Notice 2018-92 announced that the 2019
Form W-4 would include minimal chang-
es to the 2018 Form W-4 and would con-
tinue to apply section 3402 by using the
existing withholding system under which
employees claimed a number of withhold-
ing allowances on a valid Form W-4.
Although the 2019 Form W-4 con-
tinued the computation of withholding
principally based on the number of with-
holding allowances the employee claimed
on Form W-4, the amount of each with-
holding allowance for 2019, like the years
before it, was set to what would have been
the value of a personal or dependency ex-
emption in section 151(b) prior to enact-
ment of TCJA. See Rev. Proc. 2018-57,
2018-49 I.R.B. 827, sections 2.03 and
3.25. For calendar years 2018 through
2025, however, the exemption amount is
zero.
5
See section 151(d)(5)(A). More-
over, the high value of each withholding
allowance ($4,050 for 2017, $4,150 for
2018, and $4,200 for 2019) led to round-
ing errors that made it difficult for some
employees to have their withholding equal
their tax liability for the year. Accuracy
was even more difficult to achieve for
employees claiming tax credits, as these
amounts first had to be converted into tax
deductions and then expressed as a num-
ber of withholding allowances. In addition
to limiting accuracy, the use of withhold-
ing allowances to compute withholding
is not intuitive, given that wages, deduc-
tions, credits, and taxes are all expressed
as dollar amounts, rather than a number
of withholding allowances. Although the
2019 Form W-4 and prior Forms W-4
generally allow employees to achieve a
high degree of accuracy if the employee
requests an additional dollar amount to be
withheld and/or uses the withholding cal-
culator (now called the Tax Withholding
Estimator) or Publication 505 in complet-
ing the Form W-4, most employees did
not use these options.
In addition, employees with multi-
ple withholding allowance certificates in
effect, including married couples filing
jointly where both spouses receive wag-
es subject to withholding, had difficulty
achieving accuracy using the Two-Earner/
Multiple Jobs Worksheet. This worksheet
required the employee to estimate wages
at the lowest-paying job and the high-
est-paying job and, if applicable, reduce
the withholding allowances with respect
to the highest-paying job. In some cases,
an employee would need to determine an
additional amount to withhold from each
paycheck for the highest-paying job by
applying two tables in the Two-Earners/
Multiple Jobs Worksheet. Despite the
complexity of this approach, it did not al-
low employees to have their withholding
equal their tax liability if there were two or
more simultaneous jobs in the household,
and accuracy was further reduced if new
Forms W-4 were not furnished to all of the
employers after the amount of wages from
any employer changed. Moreover, it is un-
clear how many employees actually used
the Two-Earners/Multiple Jobs Worksheet
to compute their withholding allowances,
even when it would have been advanta-
geous for employees to do so to achieve
more accurate withholding.
2020 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding
Certificate
To address the limitations of the prior
Form W-4, on May 31, 2019, a draft of a
revised Form W-4 was released for public
comment. The revised Form W-4 is in-
tended to reduce the combined complexity
of the form, instructions, and worksheets
and to increase the transparency and ac-
curacy of the withholding system. The
2020 Form W-4 uses the same underlying
information as the 2019 Form W-4, but
replaces complex worksheets with more
straightforward questions. After extensive
stakeholder feedback, the draft 2020 Form
W-4 was further revised and re-released on
August 8, 2019. This version was released
to allow automated payroll providers suf-
ficient time to update payroll systems, and
it was announced no further substantive
changes to the 2020 Form W-4 were ex-
pected. The form has been renamed from
the Employee’s Withholding Allowance
Certificate to the Employee’s Withholding
Certificate. The final 2020 Form W-4 was
released on December 4, 2019, and then
was rereleased on December 31, 2019, to
5
The 2019 Publication 15 (Circular E), “Employer’s Tax Guide,” started its income tax withholding tables for single persons at the basic standard deduction ($12,200 for 2019) for unmarried
individuals minus the value of two allowances ($8,400), which is $3,800 (for an annual payroll period, and otherwise be pro-rated to the payroll period). Similarly, the 2019 Publication 15
started its income tax tables for married persons at the basic standard deduction ($24,400) for married individuals filing joint returns minus the value of three allowances ($12,600), which is
$11,800. Thus, the tables in Publication 15 applied section 151(d)(5)(A). The income tax withholding tables in the 2018 Publication 15 were similar.

March 2, 2020 462 Bulletin No. 2020–10
reflect a change in the medical expense
deduction threshold under section 213 for
2020 made by the Further Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2020, Pub. L. 116-94,
133 Stat. 2534, 3228 (2019).
The 2020 Form W-4 does not use with-
holding allowances. An employee checks
a filing status (single, married filing sep-
arately, head of household, married filing
jointly, or qualifying widow(er)) on the
Form W-4 and, as a result, will generally
have the basic standard deduction corre-
sponding to the employee’s anticipated
filing status on his or her income tax re-
turn taken into account in determining
the amount of tax withheld from the em-
ployee’s pay, in accordance with section
3402(f)(1)(E).
6
In addition, the 2020 Form
W-4 streamlines the multiple jobs proce-
dures and gives employees three options
to account for a working spouse or multi-
ple jobs held concurrently in accordance
with sections 3402(f)(1)(B), (E), and (F):
(1) employees may use the Tax Withhold-
ing Estimator to achieve accurate with-
holding; (2) employees may complete the
Multiple Jobs Worksheet and enter an ad-
ditional amount to withhold from the em-
ployee’s pay for each pay period; or (3)
employees may check the box in Step 2(c)
on the 2020 Form W-4 to request withhold-
ing using higher withholding rate tables.
(For married taxpayers filing jointly with
two jobs held concurrently, the effect of
checking the box in Step 2(c) is similar to
selecting “Married, but withhold at higher
Single rate” on a Form W-4 from 2019 or
earlier.) The 2020 Form W-4 also allows
an employee to enter dollar amounts for
tax credits, other income, and deductions
the employee expects to claim on his or
her income tax return to reflect the per-
mitted allowance under sections 3402(f)
(1)(C) and (f)(1)(D) and the increase in
the amount of withholding under section
3402(i). The Tax Withholding Estimator is
expected to provide instructions on how to
complete Form W-4 to take into account
an employee’s personal tax circumstances
in a manner that helps protect the employ-
ee’s privacy by limiting the entries the
employee is required to make on the 2020
Form W-4. The IRS will continue to up-
date the Tax Withholding Estimator based
on user feedback and to enhance accuracy,
privacy, and the employee experience.
2020 Publication 15-T, Federal Income
Tax Withholding Methods
On June 7, 2019, the IRS released for
public comment a draft of Publication
15-T, “Federal Income Tax Withholding
Methods,” which provided percentage
method tables, wage bracket withhold-
ing tables, and other computational pro-
cedures for employers to use to compute
withholding for employees for the 2020
calendar year, including employees who
furnish a 2020 Form W-4 to be effective
for 2020. After stakeholder feedback, Pub-
lication 15-T was revised and rereleased
on August 13, 2019 and was rereleased on
November 4, 2019. The income tax with-
holding tables reflecting 2020 cost-of-liv-
ing adjustments were made available on
November 28, 2019, for use with auto-
mated payroll systems. Publication 15-T
was finalized and released on December
24, 2019.
Percentage method tables, wage brack-
et withholding tables, discussion on alter-
native withholding methods, and Tables
for Withholding on Distributions of Indi-
an Gaming Profits to Tribal Members that
were formerly published in Publication
15 (Circular E), “Employer’s Tax Guide,”
Publication 15-A, “Employer’s Supple-
mental Tax Guide,” and Publication 51,
“Agricultural Employer’s Tax Guide,” are
now published in Publication 15-T, “Fed-
eral Income Tax Withholding Methods.”
However, in 2020, the IRS discontinued
publishing Formula Tables for Percentage
Method Withholding (for Automated Pay-
roll Systems), Wage Bracket Percentage
Method Tables (for Automated Payroll
Systems), and Combined Federal Income
Tax, Employee Social Security Tax, and
Employee Medicare Tax Withholding Ta-
bles.
In addition, the IRS has discontinued
publishing Notice 1036, “Early Release
Copies of the Percentage Method Tables
for Income Tax Withholding,” effective
beginning with calendar year 2020, and
instead will post information previously
included in Notice 1036 in early release
drafts of Publication 15 (www.irs.gov/
Pub15) and Publication 15-T (www.irs.
gov/Pub15T) for use by the public and
payroll community. Notice 1036 was de-
veloped in 1996 before advanced release
drafts of forms and publications were
posted on www.irs.gov/draftforms and
various product webpages. The informa-
tion previously included in Notice 1036
generally will be available on www.irs.
gov more quickly than Notice 1036 was
made available in prior years.
2020 Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate
for Pension or Annuity Payments
Section 3405(a) generally requires the
payor of periodic payments from pen-
sions, annuities, or certain other deferred
income to withhold from such payments
as if such payments were wages paid by
an employer to an employee. Under sec-
tion 3405(a)(2), an individual may elect
not to have withholding apply to period-
ic payments from pensions, annuities, or
certain other deferred income; however,
such election is not available with respect
to eligible rollover distributions or certain
payments to be made outside of the Unit-
ed States or its possessions. See sections
3405(c)(1) (eligible rollover distributions)
and 3405(e)(13) (certain payments to be
made outside the United States or its pos-
sessions). But see proposed § 31.3405(e)-
1 (certain payments not considered made
outside the United States).
An individual’s withholding election
(or election not to have withholding ap-
ply, if available), with respect to pensions,
annuities, or certain other deferred in-
come, including periodic payments under
section 3405(a), generally is made using
Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for
Pension or Annuity Payments. On De-
cember 13, 2019, the IRS early released
a draft 2020 Form W-4P. As the early re-
lease draft indicates, the Treasury Depart-
ment and the IRS do not plan to redesign
the 2020 Form W-4P in the same manner
as the 2020 W-4. Instead, the 2020 Form
W-4P will continue to request withholding
6
For employees who do not check the box in Step 2(c) to request withholding using higher rate tables, part of the basic standard deduction is built into the percentage method tables in
Publication 15-T; the other part of the standard deduction is subtracted from the employee’s wages before the tables are applied. This approach is to permit the tables to be used with Forms
W-4 furnished in 2019 and prior years. Other entries on the 2020 Form W-4 can affect other additions and subtractions that determine the amount of tax withheld from the employee’s pay.

Bulletin No. 2020–10 463 March 2, 2020
allowances and marital status, rather than
filing status, with respect to periodic pay-
ments under section 3405(a). Similarly,
the Step 2(c) checkbox on the 2020 Form
W-4 to request withholding using a higher
withholding rate table will be inapplicable
for the 2020 Form W-4P. Notice 2020-3
(which the IRS released on December 18,
2019 in advance of its expected publica-
tion in the 2020-3 edition of the Internal
Revenue Bulletin) describes withholding
rules under section 3405(a) for the 2020
calendar year and provides additional in-
formation regarding the 2020 Form W-4P.
Publication 15-A includes further infor-
mation regarding the 2020 Form W-4P
and alerts taxpayers that the related with-
holding tables and computational proce-
dures for the 2020 Form W-4P are includ-
ed in Publication 15-T.
Explanation of Provisions
These proposed regulations incorpo-
rate the changes made by TCJA to sec-
tions 3401 and 3402 and provide flexible
and administrable rules for income tax
withholding from wages that work with
both the 2020 Form W-4 and its related
tables and computational procedures de-
scribed in Publication 15-T, and Forms
W-4 and related tables and computational
procedures provided in 2019 and earlier
years. Because the ultimate goal of in-
come tax withholding is to achieve with-
holding from employee’s wages that accu-
rately reflects the provisions of chapter 1
applicable to wages and the period wages
are paid, the Treasury Department and the
IRS have determined that the mechanical
details of income tax withholding should
be provided in forms, instructions, publi-
cations, and other guidance, so that these
materials can be quickly updated as need-
ed (for legislative changes or other rea-
sons) to give payroll processors adequate
time to program their systems to withhold
the proper amount of income tax from em-
ployees’ pay. These proposed regulations
are generally compatible with the income
tax withholding system in effect for 2019,
as well as the system in effect for 2020,
and as discussed in the Proposed Applica-
bility Date section of this preamble, may
be relied upon by employers for withhold-
ing until final regulations are published.
The changes made by TCJA to section
3405(a) (withholding on pensions, annu-
ities, and certain other deferred income)
were addressed in Notice 2018-14 and
Notice 2018-92 for the 2018 and 2019 cal-
endar years, respectively. These proposed
regulations do not address withholding
under section 3405(a); instead, Notice
2020-3 describes withholding rules under
section 3405(a) for the 2020 calendar year.
1. Number of Withholding Exemptions
Claimed
In accordance with the change made
by section 11041(c)(2)(A) of TCJA and
as indicated in section 5 of Notice 2018-
92, the proposed regulations remove
§31.3401(e)-1. Because section 11041(c)
of TCJA repealed section 3401(e) and
generally changed the references in Chap-
ter 24 from “withholding exemptions” to
“withholding allowance,” current regula-
tions under section 3401(e) are no longer
consistent with the Code. (See section
2 of this Explanation of Provisions for
definitions and interchangeable terms).
However, rules similar to the substantive
rules currently under §31.3401(e)-1 are
included in other parts of these proposed
regulations. Section 5 of this Explanation
of Provisions discusses the withholding
allowance to which an employee is enti-
tled, and section 6(a) of this Explanation
of Provisions discusses the rules for em-
ployees who fail to furnish Forms W-4.
2. Definitions and Interchangeable Terms
These proposed regulations clarify that,
for purposes of chapter 24 of the Code and
subpart E of part 31 of the Employment
Tax Regulations (relating to collection of
income tax at source), any reference to
withholding exemption certificates means
withholding allowance certificates unless
otherwise stated. Section 11041 of TCJA
changed the statutory title of the withhold-
ing exemption certificate to the withhold-
ing allowance certificate. However, under
section 3402(f)(4), a withholding allow-
ance certificate in effect under section
3402(f) generally continues in effect un-
til superseded by another such certificate
that is effective under section 3402(f).
Thus, the rules proposed in these regula-
tions generally apply to both withholding
exemption certificates and withholding al-
lowance certificates.
These proposed regulations generally
refer to the Form W-4 as the withholding
allowance certificate, the statutory term
in section 3402(f)(5). However, proposed
§31.3402(f)(5)-1 provides that the Form
W-4, “Employee’s Withholding Certif-
icate,” previously called “Employee’s
Withholding Allowance Certificate,” is
the form prescribed for the withholding
allowance certificate required to be fur-
nished under section 3402(f)(2).
An employee is not required to furnish
a new Form W-4 solely because of the
2020 Form W-4 redesign, regardless of
when the employee’s Form W-4 currently
in effect was furnished. Similarly, an em-
ployer must generally continue to compute
the amount of tax to be withheld from an
employee’s wages based on a valid Form
W-4 furnished by the employee regardless
of when the employee furnished the Form
W-4 on which such computation is based.
7

The 2020 Publication 15-T provides guid-
ance on how employers will withhold in-
come tax, under the tables and computa-
tional procedures set forth therein, using
Forms W-4 furnished and in effect on or
before December 31, 2019. An employer
may ask all employees first paid wages
before 2020 to furnish a 2020 Form W-4,
but in connection with the request the em-
ployer should explain that (1) employees
are not required to furnish a new Form
W-4, and (2) if the employee does not fur-
nish a 2020 Form W-4, the amount of tax
to be withheld from the employee’s wages
will continue to be based on the last valid
Form W-4 previously furnished.
7
This rule does not apply to a Form W-4 claiming exemption from withholding, which, for a 2019 Form W-4, will expire on February 18, 2020. Under proposed §31.3402(f)(4)-1(b), if a
form claiming exemption from withholding expires, and the employee does not furnish a valid Form W-4 either renewing his or her exemption or claiming a withholding allowance, the
employer must treat the employee as single but having the withholding allowance provided in forms, instructions, publications, and other guidance prescribed by the IRS. Publication 15 for
2020 provides that such an employee should be treated as if the employee had checked the box for single or married filing separately in Step 1(c) and made no entries in Step 2, Step 3, or
Step 4 of the 2020 Form W-4.

March 2, 2020 464 Bulletin No. 2020–10
3. Percentage Method of Withholding
Section 31.3402(b)-1 of the current
regulations provides that the amount of
tax to be deducted and withheld under
the percentage method of withholding is
determined under the applicable percent-
age method withholding table included
in Circular E (Employer’s Tax Guide) ac-
cording to the instructions therein. These
proposed regulations clarify that employ-
ers that use the percentage method of
withholding must compute the amount
of tax to be withheld based on the en-
try for the employee’s anticipated filing
status or marital status and other entries
on the employee’s Form W-4 using the
applicable percentage method tables and
computational procedures in the appli-
cable forms, instructions, publications,
and other guidance prescribed by the IRS
issued for use with respect to the period
in which wages are paid. In 2020, per-
centage method tables and computational
procedures are provided in Publication
15-T.
4. Wage Bracket Method of Withholding
Section 31.3402(c)-1(a) of the current
regulations provides that, for employ-
ers using the wage bracket withholding
method, the correct amount of withhold-
ing is determined under the applicable
wage bracket withholding table in the
Circular E (Employer’s Tax Guide) is-
sued for use with respect to the period in
which such wages are paid. These pro-
posed regulations clarify that employers
that use the wage bracket withholding
method and computational procedures
based on the entry for the employee’s
anticipated filing status or marital status
and other entries on the employee’s Form
W-4 should use the applicable wage
bracket method tables and computational
procedures in forms, instructions, publi-
cations, and other guidance prescribed by
the IRS issued for use with respect to the
period in which wages are paid. In 2020,
wage bracket method tables and compu-
tational procedures are provided in Pub-
lication 15-T. In addition, these proposed
regulations update the current regula-
tions for the change in the Form W-4 and
its computational procedures and provide
that employers that use wage bracket
method withholding tables applicable to
a daily or miscellaneous pay period must
use the wage bracket withholding tables
applicable to the employee’s filing status
or marital status.
5. Determination and Disclosure of
Filing Status
Under section 3402(l)(1), an employer
must treat an employee as single unless
there is in effect a withholding allowance
certificate indicating that the employee is
married. Although section 3402(l) speaks
in terms of single and married persons and
provides that an employee will be treated
as single unless the employee furnishes
a valid Form W-4 claiming married sta-
tus, the Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that this provision does
not preclude adoption of head of house-
hold status to compute withholding for
certain filers because the ability to claim
head of household filing status furthers the
goal of accuracy in withholding and, thus,
reflects the provisions of chapter 1. See
section 3402(a)(1)(B). Under section 1(j),
for calendar years 2018 through 2025,
8

there is a separate income tax rate table
for taxpayers filing as head of household.
Providing for a head of household filing
status on the Form W-4 and providing
withholding tables for head of household
filing status further the goal of accuracy
in withholding. An employee may select
head of household filing status only if the
employee reasonably expects to be eligi-
ble to claim head of household filing sta-
tus under section 2(b) and §1.2-2(b) of the
Income Tax Regulations on the employ-
ee’s income tax return.
On the other hand, although section 1
rates applicable to unmarried individuals
and married individuals filing separate re-
turns are different at higher marginal rates,
the Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that the burden of providing
separate withholding tables for married
individuals filing separate returns out-
weighs the added accuracy that would be
provided by having separate filing statuses
for these two categories for the Form W-4
and tables. Consequently, the proposed
regulations provide for three filing status-
es: single, head of household, and married
filing jointly.
Section 31.3402(l)-1(a) of the current
regulations provides that in computing
the tax to be withheld from an employee’s
wages, the employer must apply the with-
holding table that relates to employees
who are single persons unless there is in
effect a withholding allowance certificate
indicating that the employee is married.
These proposed regulations generally in-
corporate the principle in §31.3402(l)-1(a)
of the current regulations and provide that
the employee’s entry for the employee’s
anticipated marital status or filing status
on the Form W-4 determines what table
employers apply under either the percent-
age method of withholding or wage brack-
et method of withholding. Employers may
generally rely on the employee’s entry for
filing status on the Form W-4. These pro-
posed regulations provide, consistent with
section 3402(l)(1), that an employee who
fails to furnish a valid Form W-4 must be
treated as single.
Under section 3402(l)(2), the employ-
ee may furnish the employer a withhold-
ing allowance certificate indicating that
the employee is married only if the em-
ployee is married (determined with the
application of the rules in section 3402(l)
(3), discussed in more detail below). Sec-
tion 31.3402(l)-1(b)(1) of the current reg-
ulations generally states that an employ-
ee’s marital status determines whether
the employee may select married on the
Form W-4. Generally, under the current
regulations, the employee’s anticipated
filing status on the employee’s income
tax return does not determine whether an
employee may indicate that he or she is
married on the Form W-4. These proposed
regulations change this rule.
Specifically, in defining “married” un-
der section 3402(l)(2), the Treasury De-
partment and the IRS have determined
that, in addition to the employee’s marital
status, the amount of tax to be withheld
should also be determined by reference to
the employee’s anticipated filing status on
the employee’s income tax return because
this furthers accuracy and reflects the ap-
plicable provisions of chapter 1. Under
section 1(j), for calendar years 2018–
8
Sections 1(b) and (i) provide separate rates for head of household filers if the rates in section 1(j) cease to apply.

Bulletin No. 2020–10 465 March 2, 2020
2025,
9
different tax rates apply to married
individuals filing joint returns than mar-
ried individuals filing separate returns.
Correspondingly, married individuals who
anticipate filing separately should not be
allowed to select married filing jointly on
the Form W-4 because, otherwise, such
individuals would risk being significantly
underwithheld. Therefore, these proposed
regulations provide that an employee may
only select married filing jointly on the
employee’s Form W-4 if the employee (1)
reasonably expects to file jointly a single
return of income under Subtitle A with his
or her spouse, (2) is lawfully married for
federal tax purposes within the meaning of
§301.7701-18(b) on the day the Form W-4
is furnished, and (3) is treated as married
within the meaning of section 3402(l)(3).
Furthermore, in accordance with sec-
tion 3402(l)(3)(A), these proposed reg-
ulations incorporate a rule similar to
§31.3402(l)-1(c) of the current regulations
and provide that an employee may not se-
lect married filing jointly filing status on
the Form W-4 if the employee is legally
separated from his or her spouse under
a decree of divorce or separate mainte-
nance. These proposed regulations also
update §31.3402(l)-1(c)(1)(ii) of the cur-
rent regulations and provide that an em-
ployee may not select married filing joint-
ly status on the Form W-4 if the employee
or the employee’s spouse is, or on any pre-
ceding day within the same calendar was,
a nonresident alien unless the employee
has made or reasonably expects to make
an election under section 6013(g)
10
in the
time and manner prescribed in §1.6013-
6(a)(4).
In accordance with section 3402(l)(3)
(B), these proposed regulations provide
that an employee may generally select
married filing jointly on the Form W-4
if the employee’s spouse (other than a
spouse referred to in section 3402(l)(3)
(A)) died during the employee’s taxable
year. Similarly, an employee may select
married filing jointly status if the employ-
ee’s spouse died during the previous two
taxable years, and the employee reason-
ably expects as of the close of the current
taxable year to be a surviving spouse as
defined in section 2(a) and §1.2-2(a) of
the Income Tax Regulations and claim
qualifying widow(er) filing status on the
employee’s income tax return. This rule is
similar to §31.3402(l)-1(c)(2) of the cur-
rent regulations.
Under section 3402(l)(2) an employee
whose marital status changes from mar-
ried to single must, at such time as the
Secretary may by regulations prescribe,
furnish the employer with a new with-
holding allowance certificate. Because of
the addition of head of household filing
status for withholding purposes, these pro-
posed regulations provide that an employ-
ee whose anticipated filing status changes
from married filing jointly (or qualifying
widow(er)) to head of household or sin-
gle, must, generally, within 10 days of the
change furnish his or her employer with a
new Form W-4. In addition, an employ-
ee whose anticipated filing status changes
from head of household to single, must
generally furnish his or her employer
with a new Form W-4 within 10 days of
the change. However, the employee does
not have to furnish a new Form W-4 with-
in 10 days of the change of status if the
amount of tax the employee expects to be
withheld is greater than the amount of the
employee’s anticipated income tax liabili-
ty. Nonetheless, in all cases, an employee
whose anticipated filing status changes
from married filing jointly (or qualifying
widow(er)) to head of household or sin-
gle (including married filing separately)
or from head of household to single (in-
cluding married filing separately) must
furnish a new Form W-4, to take effect in
the following calendar year, to his or her
employer by the later of December 1 of
the calendar year in which the change oc-
curs, or within 10 days of the change.
6. Withholding Allowance
These proposed regulations provide
that an employee is entitled to a “with-
holding allowance” as provided in sec-
tion 3402(f)(1) but only if the employee
furnishes a valid Form W-4 claiming the
withholding allowance. This is similar
to the rule in §31.3402(f)(1)-1(a) of the
current regulations. In addition, these
proposed regulations provide that the em-
ployer is not required to ascertain whether
the withholding allowance the employee
claims is greater than the allowance to
which the employee is entitled.
The proposed regulations define the
withholding allowance, but in accordance
with section 3402(a)(1), leave the compu-
tational details to forms, instructions, pub-
lications, and other guidance prescribed
by the IRS. In 2020, these computational
details will be set forth in the Form W-4,
Publication 505, Publication 15-T, and the
Tax Withholding Estimator.
11
The Trea-
sury Department and the IRS have deter-
mined that this flexible computation of the
withholding allowance is consistent with
section 3402(a)(1) because it is the most
appropriate way to reflect the provisions
of chapter 1 applicable to wages for a giv-
en calendar year. This approach will also
allow the IRS to make adjustment as ap-
propriate to reflect any legislative changes
to chapter 1 in withholding on employees’
pay or based on statistical data.
Under these proposed regulations,
the withholding allowance under section
3402(f)(1) is determined by reference to
seven factors. First, the withholding al-
lowance depends on whether the employ-
ee is an individual for whom a deduction
is allowable under section 151. See sec-
tion 3402(f)(1)(A). The regulations re-
peat the statutory language with respect
to this factor. Second, if the employee is
married, the withholding allowance de-
pends on whether the employee’s spouse
is entitled to the section 151 deduction, or
would be so entitled if the spouse were an
employee receiving wages, but only if the
spouse does not have in effect a Form W-4
claiming an allowance for the section 151
deduction. See section 3402(f)(1)(B). The
first and second factors, however, have
no effect on withholding for calendar
years 2018 through 2025 because section
151(d)(5) suspends the deduction for per-
sonal exemptions for calendar years 2018
through 2025. Accordingly, these factors
9
Sections 1(b) and (i) provide separate rates for married individuals filing joint returns if the rates in section 1(j) cease to apply.
10
Section 6013(g) was added by section 1012 of the Tax Reform Act of 1976, P.L. 94-455, 90 Stat. 1612 (1976). Under section 6013(g)(1)(B), this election applies for purposes of chapter 24.
11
The withholding allowance for nonresident alien individuals is subject to the rules in proposed §31.3402(f)(6)-1, and, for 2020, nonresident aliens will find further guidance in IRS Notice
1392, “Supplemental Form W-4 Instructions for Nonresident Aliens.”

March 2, 2020 466 Bulletin No. 2020–10
are not taken into account on the 2020
Form W-4.
Third, if the employee is married, the
withholding allowance depends on wheth-
er the employee’s spouse is entitled to any
additional amount under section 3402(m)
or would be so entitled if the employee’s
spouse were an employee receiving wag-
es, but only if the spouse does not have
in effect a withholding allowance certifi-
cate claiming the allowance. See section
3402(f)(1)(B). The 2020 Form W-4 takes
this factor into account by instructing tax-
payers to complete the steps correspond-
ing to any additional amount of tax deduc-
tions or tax credits on only one Form W-4
in the household.
Fourth, the withholding allowance de-
pends on the number of individuals for
whom a credit under section 24(a) may
reasonably be expected to be allowable
for the calendar year. See section 3402(f)
(1)(C). These proposed regulations clari-
fy that this means the credit under section
24(a) that the employee reasonably ex-
pects to claim on the employee’s income
tax return. This includes both the child tax
credit and the credit for other dependents.
The proposed regulations also clarify that
the employee may not take into account
any credit under section 24(a) that is
claimed on another Form W-4. The 2020
Form W-4 takes this factor into account in
Step 3 of the form.
Fifth, the withholding allowance de-
pends on any additional amounts the em-
ployee elects to take into account under
section 3402(m), but only if the employ-
ee’s spouse does not have in effect a with-
holding allowance certificate making this
election. See section 3402(f)(1)(D). These
proposed regulations clarify this factor
and state that the withholding allowance
depends on additional deductions, cred-
its, or other items the employee takes into
account under proposed §31.3402(m)-1.
Specifically, proposed §31.3402(m)-1(e)
(3) allows the total deductions, credits,
or estimated tax payments to be claimed
on only one Form W-4. This is similar to
the rule in §31.3402(m)-1(f) of the current
regulations. Thus, an employee or the em-
ployee’s spouse may not claim an amount
of a deduction, credit, or estimated tax
payment in proposed §31.3402(m)-1 if
that same amount is claimed on any other
Form W-4 in effect for the employee or
the employee’s spouse.
The 2020 Form W-4 takes into account
estimated tax credits for dependents al-
lowable under proposed §31.3402(m)-
1(b) in Step 3. The instructions to the 2020
Form W-4 clarify that employees may
also claim other credits such as the edu-
cation tax credit or the foreign tax credit
in Step 3 of the 2020 Form W-4. The 2020
Form W-4 takes into account estimated
tax deductions allowable under proposed
§31.3402(m)-1(c) in Step 4(b), which al-
lows employees to claim deductions such
as itemized deductions, student loan inter-
est deductions, and deductible Individual
Retirement Arrangement (IRA) contri-
butions. Employees who wish to claim
these and other deductions should com-
plete the Deductions Worksheet on page
3 of Form W-4. Finally, under proposed
§31.3402(m)-1, certain employees may
take into account the credit for income
tax withholding under chapter 24 and may
take into account estimated tax payments
paid provided they take into account non-
wage income and follow the instructions
to the Tax Withholding Estimator.
12
As
stated previously in this preamble, the
IRS will continue to update the Tax With-
holding Estimator. The Treasury Depart-
ment and IRS also request comments on
whether changes should be made to the
proposed regulations so that in the future
the Tax Withholding Estimator may en-
able employees to have all required with-
holding on wages while taking into ac-
count expected estimated tax payments on
non-wage income to be made later in the
year, and, if so, what safeguards should be
added to prevent inappropriate underwith-
holding on wages.
Sixth, the withholding allowance de-
pends on the standard deduction allowable
to the employee (one-half of the standard
deduction in the case of an employee who
is married (as determined under section
7703) and whose spouse is an employee
receiving wages subject to withholding).
See section 3402(f)(1)(E). These pro-
posed regulations define this as the basic
standard deduction (as defined in section
63(c)(2)) relating to the filing status the
employee reasonably expects to claim
on the employee’s income tax return for
the calendar year for which the withhold-
ing allowance is claimed. (The additional
standard deduction for the aged and blind
is allowed under §31.3402(m)-1(c)(5).)
The 2020 Form W-4 takes into account
the basic standard deduction allowable
to the employee under section 3402(f)
(1)(E) by having an employee check the
box for the employee’s anticipated filing
status in Step 1(c). The basic standard de-
duction for each filing status is generally
applied without further adjustment if the
employee completes only Step 1 (includ-
ing checking the box for a particular filing
status) and Step 5 (signing under penalties
of perjury) on the 2020 Form W-4.
13
Seventh, the withholding allowance
depends on whether the employee has
withholding allowance certificates in ef-
fect with respect to more than one em-
ployer. See section 3402(f)(1)(F). For
this factor, these proposed regulations
reference the Form W-4 and other com-
putational instructions (such as the Tax
Withholding Estimator) to determine
the adjustment resulting from multiple
Forms W-4 the employee, the employ-
ee’s spouse, or both have or reasonably
expect to have in effect with respect to
one or more employers. The Treasury
Department and the IRS have determined
that the Form W-4 and the instructions to
the form are best able to direct employ-
ees how to take this factor into account in
determining their withholding allowance
and completing the Form W-4 due to the
variety of fact patterns and the need to
adjust this rule for the future based on
statistical data or changes in the law to
ensure accurate withholding on wages
under chapter 1.
The 2020 Form W-4 provides em-
ployees three options with respect to
multiple Forms W-4. Employees may
use the Tax Withholding Estimator, may
12
An employee whose employer must withhold for that employee pursuant to a notice under proposed §31.3402(f)(2)-1(g)(2) (lock-in letter) may not take into account any credit for tax with-
held on wages under section 31(a) or any estimated tax payments. Thus, an employee for whom a lock-in letter is issued may not take into account income tax withheld to date or estimated
tax payments in computing the employee’s withholding allowance.
13
An employee—other than a student from India or business apprentice from India—who identifies as a nonresident alien employee by following the instructions in Notice 1392 will not
have the basic standard deduction subtracted from the employee’s wages. For 2020, the Publication 15-T provides special procedures employers must use with respect to such employees.

Bulletin No. 2020–10 467 March 2, 2020
enter an amount computed on the Multi-
ple Jobs Worksheet, or may select high-
er withholding rate tables by checking
the box in Step 2(c) of the form. If the
box in Step 2(c) is checked, Publication
15-T instructs employers to prorate and
apply one-half of the standard deduction
and marginal rates that account for equal
wages for employment held concurrently.
Thus, in the case of married taxpayers fil-
ing jointly, Publication 15-T applies the
parenthetical in section 3402(f)(1)(E),
which allows one-half of the standard de-
duction to an employee who is married
and whose spouse is receiving wages
subject to withholding.
7. Additional Withholding Allowance
These proposed regulations provide
rules under which an employee deter-
mines the additional withholding allow-
ance or additional reductions in withhold-
ing the employee is entitled to claim on a
Form W-4 under section 3402(m). Under
section 3402(m), in determining the addi-
tional withholding allowance or additional
reductions in withholding, the employee
may take into account estimated tax de-
ductions under section 3402(m)(1), esti-
mated tax credits under section 3402(m)
(2), and such additional deductions and
other items as may be specified by the
Secretary in regulations under section
3402(m)(3). This additional withholding
allowance and additional reductions in
withholding are part of the “withholding
allowance” the employee is entitled to
claim as provided in section 3402(f)(1)
(D).
Section 6 of Notice 2018-92 discussed
section 3402(m) generally and allowed
taxpayers to include the estimated deduc-
tion under section 199A in determining
the additional withholding allowance
or additional reductions in withholding
under section 3402(m). Section 6 of No-
tice 2018-92 requested comments with
respect to the list of items set forth in
§31.3402(m)-1(b). No comments on this
issue were received. The Treasury De-
partment and the IRS again request com-
ments with respect to section 3402(m)
generally, and, specifically, with respect
to the aspects of these proposed regula-
tions described in further detail in the fol-
lowing sections.
a. Estimated tax deductions
These proposed regulations imple-
ment section 3402(m)(1) by continuing
the rule that taxpayers may take into ac-
count estimated itemized deductions (as
defined in section 63(d)) allowable under
Chapter 1. These proposed regulations
combine the rule in §31.3402(m)-1(b)
(1) and §31.3402(m)-1(c)(3) of the cur-
rent regulations and define itemized de-
ductions in proposed §31.3402(m)-1(b)
(1) by cross-referencing to section 63(d).
This change updates the cross-reference
to the definition of itemized deductions to
conform to section 102 of the Tax Reform
Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99-514, 100 Stat.
2085, 2101 (1987) (defining itemized de-
ductions in section 63(d)).
These proposed regulations also im-
plement section 3402(m)(1) by allowing
employees to take into account the em-
ployee’s estimated deduction under sec-
tion 199A in determining the additional
withholding allowance or other reductions
in withholding under section 3402(m)
that the employee is entitled to claim on a
Form W-4. This is consistent with section
6 of Notice 2018-92.
Section 11051(b)(2)(B) of TCJA struck
the reference to section 62(a)(10) (regard-
ing certain payments made under divorce or
separation instruments) in section 3402(m)
(1) as a permitted estimated deduction. Un-
der section 11051(c) of TCJA, this change
generally applies to any divorce or separa-
tion instrument (as defined in section 71(b)
(2) of the Code as in effect before Decem-
ber 22, 2017) executed after December
31, 2018, or to any divorce or separation
instrument (as so defined) executed on or
before December 22, 2017, and modified
thereafter, if the modification expressly
provides that the amendments made by
section 11051 of TCJA apply to such mod-
ification. However, because these proposed
regulations generally allow taxpayers to
take into account deductions described in
section 62 that the employee reasonably ex-
pects will be allowable on the employee’s
income tax return for the year such item is
claimed, the Treasury Department and the
IRS have determined that no special rule
is necessary with respect to payments de-
scribed in section 62(a)(10) for the period
prior to the effective date of this change to
section 3402(m)(1). Employees who, un-
der section 11051(c) of TCJA, are eligible
for the deduction described in section 62(a)
(10), may generally continue to take this
deduction into account in determining the
employee’s withholding allowance or other
reductions in withholding if the employee
reasonably expects this deduction to be al-
lowable on the employee’s income tax re-
turn for the year the Form W-4 is in effect.
Section 3402(m)(3) authorizes the Sec-
retary to prescribe regulations that allow
employees to take into account such addi-
tional deductions (including the additional
standard deduction under section 63(c)(3)
for the aged and blind) in determining the
additional withholding allowance or other
reductions in withholding. Under this au-
thority, these proposed regulations allow
taxpayers to take into account the estimated
additional standard deduction for the aged
and blind provided under section 63(c)(3)
and section 63(f). These proposed regula-
tions also allow taxpayers to take into ac-
count the estimated deduction or deductions
allowed for personal exemptions under sec-
tion 151. Although, under section 151(d)
(5), this deduction has been suspended for
the calendar years 2018 through 2025, the
Treasury Department and the IRS have de-
termined that the limited period of the sus-
pension and the specific reference to section
151 in section 3402(f)(1)(A) necessitate in-
cluding in these proposed regulations a pro-
vision for a deduction for a dependency ex-
emption or dependency exemptions under
section 151 for changes scheduled to take
effect after December 31, 2025.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have also determined, consistent with
§31.3402(m)-1(b) of the current regula-
tions, that employees should be permitted
to take into account estimated deductions
described in section 62, with certain ex-
ceptions, in determining the employee’s
additional withholding allowance or other
reductions in withholding under section
3402(m). The proposed regulations pro-
vide for three exceptions. First, these pro-
posed regulations provide that employees
may not take into account any estimated
deduction described in section 62(a)(2)
if the reimbursement or payment for the
amount allowable as the deduction is ex-
cludible from wages subject to income tax
withholding. For example, an employee
may not take into account any expenses
described in section 62(a)(2)(A) that are

March 2, 2020 468 Bulletin No. 2020–10
reimbursed under a reimbursement and
expense allowance arrangement since
those reimbursements are excludible from
wages under §31.3401(a)-4(a). The Trea-
sury Department and the IRS have de-
termined that it is inappropriate to allow
an employee to claim an additional with-
holding allowance or other reductions in
withholding with respect to items that are
otherwise excludible from wages.
Second, these proposed regulations pro-
vide that, in determining the employee’s ad-
ditional withholding allowance or other re-
ductions in withholding, employees are not
allowed to take into account estimated trade
or business deductions described in sec-
tion 62(a)(1), estimated deductions for the
production of income that are attributable
to property held for the production of rent
or royalties under section 62(a)(4), or esti-
mated deductions described in section 62(a)
(5) unless these amounts result in an aggre-
gate net loss on schedules C (Profit or Loss
from Business), E (Supplemental Income
and Loss), or F (Profit or Loss from Farm-
ing) of Form 1040. Third, these proposed
regulations provide that employees are not
allowed to take into account estimated loss-
es from the sale or exchange of property
described in section 62(a)(3) unless these
amounts result in a net loss on Schedule D
(Capital Gains and Losses) of Form 1040 or
on the last line of Part II of Form 4797 (Sale
of Business Property). These limitations on
estimated deductions described in section
62(a)(1), (3), (4), and (5) are consistent with
§31.3402(m)-1(b)(12) of the current regu-
lations, which affirmatively permits taking
into account the estimated deductions for
these items “from” the applicable sched-
ules. In addition, these proposed regulations
continue the rule in §31.3402(m)-1(b)(7) of
the current regulations and allow employ-
ees to take into account a net operating loss
carryover under section 172 in determining
the employee’s additional withholding al-
lowance or other reductions in withholding
under section 3402(m).
b. Estimated tax credits
These proposed regulations allow an
employee to take into account estimated
income tax credits allowable under chap-
ter 1 in determining the employee’s ad-
ditional withholding allowance or other
reductions in withholding and update the
cross reference in §31.3402(m)-1(b)(2)
of the current regulations to conform to
changes under section 471 of the Deficit
Reduction Act of 1984, Pub. L. No. 98-
369, 98 Stat. 494, 825 (1984). (The credit
under section 24 of the Code (child tax
credit) is part of the employee’s withhold-
ing allowance under section 3402(f)(2)(C)
and is thus not part of the employee’s ad-
ditional withholding allowance).
Section 31.3402(m)-1(b)(2)(i) of the
current regulations does not allow an em-
ployee to take the credit for tax withheld
on wages under section 31(a) into account
in determining the employee’s additional
withholding allowance or other reductions
in withholding under section 3402(m).
However, section 7 of Notice 2018-92 stat-
ed that the Treasury Department and the
IRS intend to update the regulations under
section 3402 to explicitly allow employ-
ees to use the withholding calculator (now
called the Tax Withholding Estimator) or
Publication 505 to determine what entries
to make on Form W-4 in lieu of complet-
ing certain worksheets included with the
Form W-4. The Tax Withholding Estima-
tor currently takes into account the amount
of income tax withheld to date to estimate
the amount of withholding required for the
remaining payroll periods during the cal-
endar year. Thus, the Treasury Department
and the IRS have determined that employ-
ees may take into account the credit per-
mitted under section 31(a) for income tax
withheld under chapter 24 to date but only
if (1) on the day the employee estimates the
amount of income tax withheld, the amount
has been withheld from the employee’s
wages (or other payments treated as wag-
es for chapter 24 purposes, such as pension
payments subject to withholding under sec-
tion 3405 or certain other payments subject
to backup withholding under section 3406)
and (2) the employee enters this amount of
tax withheld pursuant to the instructions in
the Tax Withholding Estimator or Publica-
tion 505.
14
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that these limitations in
taking into account the credit for tax with-
held are necessary to prevent employees
from having a disproportionate amount of
income tax withheld at the end of a cal-
endar year. Historically, the withholding
tables and procedures established under
the Code are structured so that withhold-
ing from wages generally occurs evenly
throughout the year. However, if an em-
ployee’s employer has already withheld
more Federal income tax from the em-
ployee’s wages than necessary to satisfy
the employee’s anticipated income tax lia-
bility, employees should generally be able
to take any excess amounts withheld into
account.
One commenter to Notice 2018-92
suggested that the withholding calculator
(now called the Tax Withholding Esti-
mator) should include an entry accom-
modating an annual payroll period so a
multiplier of one can be used if prior year
tax information is used for the entries in
the calculator. The Tax Withholding Es-
timator currently allows employees to
enter weekly, bi-weekly, semi-month-
ly, and monthly payroll frequencies be-
cause those are the most common types
of payroll periods used by employers.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
request comments on whether there is a
need to provide additional payroll fre-
quencies—other than weekly, bi-week-
ly, semi-monthly, and monthly—as part
of the Tax Withholding Estimator. Also,
the Treasury Department and the IRS
note that the Tax Withholding Estimator
currently asks the employee to enter the
total wages the employee expects to re-
ceive this year and bases its recommen-
dation, in part, on that annual entry. In
addition, the Tax Withholding Estimator
makes recommendations for the current
year, and prior year information may not
always be useful when employees’ cir-
cumstances change.
With regard to nonresident aliens, these
proposed regulations continue the rule in
§31.3402(m)-1(b)(2)(ii) of the current
regulations to disregard the credit for tax
withheld on nonresident aliens and foreign
corporations. However, these proposed
regulations update the cross-reference for
the credit for tax withheld on nonresident
aliens from section 32 to section 33 con-
14
An employee subject to a lock-in letter may not take the credit under section 31(a) into account.

Bulletin No. 2020–10 469 March 2, 2020
sistent with section 471(c) of the Deficit
Reduction Act of 1984.
Finally, these proposed regulations
provide that an employee may not take
into account, in determining the employ-
ee’s additional withholding allowance or
other reductions in withholding under sec-
tion 3402(m), any estimated chapter 1 tax
credits the employee has claimed or ex-
pects to be refunded as a result of filing an
IRS form other than the employee’s indi-
vidual income tax return (Form 1040). For
example, an employee may not take into
account an estimated credit under section
34 for certain uses of gasoline and special
fuel the employee claimed or expects to
claim on Form 8849, but if the employee
expects to claim the section 34 credit on
a Form 4136 attached to the employee’s
individual income tax return, the employ-
ee may take this credit into account. This
rule is similar to §31.3402(m)-1(b)(2)(iii)
of the current regulations. However, un-
der these proposed regulations, this rule
applies to all chapter 1 tax credits that an
employee claimed or expects to claim on
an IRS form other than the employee’s
individual income tax return. The Trea-
sury Department and the IRS have deter-
mined that it is inappropriate to allow an
employee to take into account a chapter 1
tax credit that the taxpayer has otherwise
requested to be refunded by filing an IRS
form other than the employee’s individual
income tax return.
c. Estimated tax payments
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that certain estimated tax
payments are “other items” referenced
in section 3402(m)(3) because employ-
ees who have both wages and non-wage
income, including net earnings from
self-employment, should be able to take
into account any estimated tax payments
they already paid with respect to non-
wage income if they want to have income
tax withheld from their wages for the re-
mainder of the year to apply toward tax
liability with respect to non-wage income
for that year. The Treasury Department
and the IRS also want to ensure employ-
ees do not use estimated tax payments to
inappropriately reduce required withhold-
ing on wages. Accordingly, these pro-
posed regulations allow taxpayers to take
into account, in determining the additional
withholding allowance or other reductions
in withholding under section 3402(m)(3),
estimated tax payments paid to date if (1)
the amount claimed has been paid with
the payment voucher from Form 1040-
ES, “Estimated Tax for Individuals” (or
was otherwise designated by the taxpay-
er as a payment of estimated tax); (2) the
employee uses the Tax Withholding Esti-
mator and enters the amount claimed pur-
suant to the instructions in the Tax With-
holding Estimator; and (3) in using the
Tax Withholding Estimator, the employee
includes all items of nonwage income the
Tax Withholding Estimator prompts the
employee to enter.
15
As a result, employ-
ees who desire to satisfy their tax obliga-
tions related to self-employment and other
non-wage income through wage withhold-
ing rather than future estimated tax pay-
ments may use the Tax Withholding Esti-
mator to compute the amount necessary to
do so. Employees who desire to continue
to pay estimated taxes in whole or in part
on self-employment or other non-wage in-
come, should not use the Tax Withholding
Estimator, but should follow the instruc-
tions in Publication 505 to determine how
to complete Form W-4. The Treasury De-
partment and the IRS request comments
on whether employees should be able to
take into account in the Tax Withholding
Estimator estimated tax payments they
have not yet made but plan to make during
the calendar year with regard to their non-
wage income and, if so, what conditions
are advisable to ensure employees do not
shift required withholding on wages to es-
timated tax payments or inadvertently pay
insufficient taxes during the calendar year
so that they owe taxes when they file their
tax returns and possibly face estimated tax
or underpayment penalties.
d. Definitions and special rules
These proposed regulations continue
the rules in §31.3402(m)-1(c)(1) of the
current regulations relating to the cir-
cumstances under which an employee
may take into account, in determining the
employee’s additional withholding allow-
ance or other reductions in withholding
under section 3402(m), deductions, cred-
its, and other items. Specifically, an em-
ployee may generally take into account
only a particular deduction or credit (other
than the credit for income tax withheld
on wages) that the employee reasonably
expects will be allowable for the year the
estimation is made, which in no event may
exceed the amount shown for that particu-
lar deduction or credit on the employee’s
tax return for the preceding taxable year
plus a determinable additional amount.
However, these proposed regulations pro-
vide that a taxpayer may not take into ac-
count any proposed adjustment relating to
a disallowed tax deduction or credit that
is the subject of any pending request for
reconsideration, protest, request for con-
sideration by an Appeals office, or civil
action.
These proposed regulations partially
incorporate the rule in the flush language
of §31.3402(m)-1(b) of the current regu-
lations to provide that an employee must
offset any deduction allowable under
proposed §31.3402(m)-1(b) with items
includible in the employee’s gross in-
come for which no Federal income tax
is withheld. However, unlike the rule in
the flush language of §31.3402(m)-1(b)
of the current regulations, the rule in the
proposed regulations is applied only with
respect to deductions and not with re-
spect to income tax credits. The Treasury
Department and the IRS have determined
that requiring taxpayers to apply this rule
with respect to credits is mathematically
cumbersome and would complicate with-
holding procedures for employees. In or-
der to offset tax credits with nonwage in-
come, employees would have to convert
the credit to a deduction, and the Trea-
sury Department and the IRS view such
a procedure as undercutting the purpose
of the 2020 Form W-4, which in separate
steps requests dollar amounts for estimat-
ed tax credits and estimated deductions,
facilitating determination of more accu-
rate withholding. The Treasury Depart-
ment and the IRS request comments with
respect to this rule.
These proposed regulations also incor-
porate the rules in §31.3402(m)-1(f) of
the current regulations and provide that
15
An employee subject to a lock-in letter may not take estimated tax payments into account.

March 2, 2020 470 Bulletin No. 2020–10
an employee may not take into account,
in determining the employee’s additional
withholding allowance or other reductions
in withholding under section 3402(m),
deductions, credits, or estimated tax pay-
ments if these deductions, credits, or esti-
mated tax payments are claimed on anoth-
er valid Form W-4 in effect with respect to
another employer of the employee or an
employer of the employee’s spouse. These
proposed regulations provide that spouses
who file jointly may only claim deduc-
tions, credits, or estimated tax payments
once, but these amounts may be allocat-
ed between the spouses. These proposed
regulations also provide that a married
employee who expects to file separately
from his or her spouse and has filed sepa-
rately for the preceding taxable year may
take into account deductions, credits, or
estimated tax payments on the basis of the
employee’s individual wages and allow-
able items. These proposed regulations
further provide that an employee must fol-
low the instructions to the Form W-4, and
other forms, instructions, publications,
and related guidance in determining the
credits, deductions, or estimated tax pay-
ments the employee may take into account
under section 3402(m). This is similar to
the rule in §31.3402(m)-1(d)(1) of the
current regulations, which instructs tax-
payers to compute additional allowances
using the tables and instructions on Form
W-4. Finally, these proposed regulations
delete the examples illustrating the appli-
cation of section 3402(m) and the current
regulations. The Treasury Department and
the IRS request comments on the need for
examples that illustrate the application of
these proposed regulations.
8. Furnishing of Withholding Allowance
Certificates
As stated earlier in this preamble, these
proposed regulations implement TCJA’s
changes to section 3402(f)(2) of the Code
and conform to the redesigned 2020 Form
W-4. These proposed regulations also ad-
dress the circumstances under which the
employee must furnish the employer a
Form W-4. Under section 3402(f)(2), in
no event may the employee furnish the
employer a withholding allowance certif-
icate claiming a withholding allowance in
excess of the withholding allowance the
employee is entitled to claim under sec-
tion 3402(f)(1).
In addition, these proposed regulations
restate and clarify certain longstanding
special rules relating to when an employer
should request each employee to furnish a
new Form W-4, rules relating to inclusion
of social security numbers on a Form W-4,
and rules relating to invalid Forms W-4.
Finally, these proposed regulations clarify
longstanding rules relating to the submis-
sion of certain Forms W-4 to the IRS and
rules governing when the IRS may notify
the employer in writing that an employee
is not entitled to claim a complete exemp-
tion from withholding or more than the
maximum withholding allowance speci-
fied by the IRS in a written notice (a lock-
in letter).
a. Commencement of employment
Under section 3402(f)(2)(A), on or be-
fore the commencement of employment
with an employer, an employee must fur-
nish the employer with a signed withhold-
ing allowance certificate relating to the
withholding allowance claimed by the em-
ployee, which in no event may exceed the
withholding allowance to which the em-
ployee is entitled. These proposed regula-
tions clarify section 3402(f)(2)(A) and pro-
vide that, on or before commencement of
employment, an employee must furnish the
employer with a signed Form W-4 relating
to the filing status the employee reasonably
expects to claim on the employee’s income
tax return and the withholding allowance
the employee is entitled to as discussed in
section 6 of this Explanation of Provisions.
These proposed regulations clarify that an
employee may in no event furnish a Form
W-4 claiming a withholding allowance in
excess of the withholding allowance the
employee is entitled to as determined based
on the employee’s reasonable expectations
and the instructions provided in forms, in-
structions, publications, and other guidance
prescribed by the IRS.
These proposed regulations also clari-
fy that an employee who may claim ex-
emption from withholding under section
3402(n) and proposed §31.3402(n)-1 may
furnish a Form W-4 claiming the exemp-
tion from withholding on or before com-
mencement of employment with an em-
ployer.
As stated in section 5 of Notice 2018-
92, because TCJA struck section 3401(e)
but did not make any substantive chang-
es to section 3402(l) (providing that an
employee is treated as single unless the
employee furnishes the employer a Form
W-4 indicating the employee is married),
these proposed regulations provide, with
respect to wages paid on or after Janu-
ary 1, 2020, that an employer with an
employee who failed or fails to furnish a
valid Form W-4 on or before commenc-
ing employment with the employer must
treat the employee as single but having the
withholding allowance provided in forms,
instructions, publications, and other guid-
ance prescribed by the IRS (default rate).
This rule provides flexibility to adjust the
applicable default rate of withholding, if
warranted based on future legislation or
statistical data, to better align withholding
with income tax liability.
The IRS plans to provide a default rate
for employees who fail to furnish a Form
W-4 and who commenced employment on
or before December 31, 2019 (and were
paid wages in 2019 or earlier) that dif-
fers from the default rate for employees
who fail to furnish a Form W-4 and were
first paid wages on or after January 1,
2020. However, for this purpose, for any
employee commencing employment on
or after January 1, 2020, in determining
when the employee was first paid wages,
the employer may choose to disregard any
previous payment of wages during a prior
employment relationship between the em-
ployee and the employer that had ended,
such as for an employee who retired and
is later rehired. In this circumstance, the
employer may treat the employee who
fails to furnish a Form W-4 as though the
employee was first paid wages on or after
January 1, 2020.
Employees hired and paid wages on
or before December 31, 2019, who failed
to furnish Forms W-4 have historically
been treated as single and claiming zero
withholding allowances. This default rate
will continue to apply to these employees
hired and paid wages on or before Decem-
ber 31, 2019, who fail to furnish a valid
Form W-4. As a result employees in this
situation would generally have a similar
amount of income tax withheld from wag-
es in 2020 as in 2019 (although the 2020
Publication 15-T provides percentage

Bulletin No. 2020–10 471 March 2, 2020
method and wage bracket method with-
holding tables that take into account 2020
cost-of-living adjustments to certain items
due to inflation as required by various pro-
visions of the Code).
On the other hand, Publication 15-T
instructs employers to treat an employee
who is first paid wages on or after January
1, 2020 (even if hired at the end of 2019),
and who fails to furnish a Form W-4 as
if the employee had checked the box for
single or married filing separately in Step
1(c) and made no entries in Step 2, Step
3, or Step 4 of the 2020 Form W-4. Thus,
a single filer’s standard deduction with
no other entries for the steps on the 2020
Form W-4 will be taken into account in
determining withholding for the employ-
ee. The tables and computational instruc-
tions in Publication 15-T were adjusted
accordingly. The Treasury Department
and the IRS have determined that this
updated default rate of withholding ade-
quately reflects the appropriate withhold-
ing for most employees.
However, if this updated default rate
were applied to wages paid in 2020 or lat-
er to those employees who were hired and
paid wages on or before December 31,
2019, those employees would generally
have less income tax withheld from their
wages paid in 2020 or later than they did in
2019 and earlier without furnishing a new
Form W-4 to their employers. Thus, these
employees might be surprised by such an
unexpected change in withholding when
they took no action to cause the change
in withholding. The Treasury Department
and the IRS note that if an employee de-
sires and is entitled to have less tax with-
held from the employee’s wages, the em-
ployee should furnish his or her employer
a valid Form W-4 (and employees will
more easily achieve accurate withholding
using the 2020 Form W-4). Accordingly,
while the updated default rate for employ-
ees first paid wages on or after January 1,
2020, will lead to more accurate withhold-
ing than the continued default rate for em-
ployees hired and paid wages on or before
December 31, 2019, the Treasury Depart-
ment and the IRS view the use of sepa-
rate default rates depending on when the
employee commenced employment and
first received wages as appropriately bal-
ancing the desire for accurate withholding
and the desire to not reduce withholding
for employees with no change in circum-
stance or newly furnished Form W-4.
Section 11 of Notice 2018-92 solicited
comments generally, and one comment-
er suggested that an employee who fails
to furnish a Form W-4 should continue to
be treated as single with zero withholding
allowances because adding allowances
to the employee’s wages complicates the
withholding system. The Treasury Depart-
ment and the IRS do not agree that adding
withholding allowances complicates the
withholding system, especially after im-
plementation of the redesigned 2020 Form
W-4. Recognizing that the goal of the with-
holding system is to achieve the appropri-
ate withholding of income tax to approx-
imate an employee’s income tax liability,
the proposed regulations provide that em-
ployees who fail to furnish Form W-4 will
be treated as single having the withholding
allowance provided in forms, instructions,
publications, or other guidance by the IRS.
Withholding on these employees’ wages
takes into consideration statistical data con-
cerning the tax liability of employees and is
designed to avoid placing an unnecessary
burden on employers. Thus, Treasury De-
partment and the IRS will not adopt this
specific comment
b. Change of status
Similar to the current regulations, these
proposed regulations provide “change of
status” rules for employees who experience
changed circumstances that reduce the
withholding allowance an employee is en-
titled to claim. In particular, these proposed
regulations update the rules to reflect TCJA
changes and changes in computational
procedures set forth in forms, instructions
and publications. See section 3402(f)(2)
(B) and (C). As required by the Code, these
proposed regulations provide that an em-
ployee is generally required to furnish a
new Form W-4 to his or her employer with-
in 10 days after the change of status if the
change affects the current calendar year or
by December 1 of the current calendar year
to take effect in the following calendar year
if the change affects the next calendar year.
Due to the TCJA change in the definition of
a withholding allowance and to reflect the
goal of the withholding system to ensure
the tax withheld approximates the employ-
ee’s income tax liability while minimizing
employee and employer burden, these pro-
posed regulations provide that an employee
does not have to furnish a new Form W-4
if the amount of tax the employee expects
to be withheld from the employee’s pay for
the calendar year is greater than the amount
of the employee’s anticipated income tax
liability.
Furthermore, because this general rule
may be difficult for certain employees to
apply and because the 2020 Form W-4
generally uses annual estimates of dollar
amounts, the IRS and the Treasury De-
partment have determined that requiring
employees to furnish, and employers to
put into effect, new Forms W-4 for small
changes in circumstances would be bur-
densome and complex. Therefore, these
proposed regulations also provide a de
minimis rule with respect to changes of
status under section 3402(f)(2)(B) and
(C). These change of status rules apply
for Forms W-4 furnished in 2019 or pri-
or years and for Forms W-4 furnished in
2020 or later years.
Specifically, these proposed regulations
provide seven circumstances under which
an employee must furnish a new Form W-4
to the employer. If any of the seven circum-
stances apply, the employee experiences
a “change of status” and must, within 10
days after the change occurs (if the change
of status affects the current calendar year)
or by the later of December 1 of the current
calendar year or 10 days after the change
occurs (if the change of status affects the
next calendar year), furnish his or her em-
ployer with a new Form W-4. Notwith-
standing a change in status, however, if the
employee’s income tax withholding for the
calendar year would continue to equal or
exceed the employee’s anticipated income
tax liability for the year, then the employee
generally does not have to furnish a new
Form W-4 to the employer.
16
16
However, any employee whose anticipated filing status changes from married filing jointly (or qualifying widow(er)) to head of household or single (including married filing separately)
or from head of household to single (including married filing separately) must furnish a new Form W-4 to take effect in the following calendar year to his or her employer by the later of
December 1 of the calendar year in which the change occurs, or within 10 days of the change.

March 2, 2020 472 Bulletin No. 2020–10
First, if an employee’s filing status
changes from married filing jointly (or
qualifying widow(er)) to head of house-
hold or single (including married filing
separately) or from head of household to
single (including married filing separate-
ly), the proposed regulations provide that
the employee experiences a change of sta-
tus.
Second, if an unmarried employee
commences concurrent employment with
a second employer that pays wages sub-
ject to income tax withholding and selects
higher withholding rate tables on the sec-
ond Form W-4, the proposed regulations
provide that the employee experiences a
change of status with respect to the first
Form W-4 if higher withholding rates
were not selected on the first Form W-4.
Similarly, if a married employee (1) ex-
pects to file jointly with his or her spouse,
(2) no longer has only one Form W-4
on file for the employee, the employee’s
spouse, or both, and (3) the employee or
the employee’s spouse selects higher with-
holding rate tables on a second Form W-4,
then the employee experiences a change
of status with respect to the first Form W-4
if higher withholding rate tables were not
selected on the first Form W-4. The high-
er withholding rate tables are designed
to work for employees with two employ-
ers (including married employees filing
jointly if both spouses are employed by
employers who pay wages subject to in-
come tax withholding). Employees with
two Forms W-4 in effect who select high-
er withholding rate tables on one Form
W-4 without selecting higher withholding
rate tables on the second Form W-4 have
a significant risk of having less than the
amount necessary to satisfy their tax lia-
bility withheld from their wages.
Third, if an employee has multiple
Forms W-4 in effect, and the employee or
the employee’s spouse reasonably expects
an annual increase in regular wages of
$10,000, the proposed regulations provide
that a change of status occurs with respect
to the Form W-4 on which the employee
has utilized the multiple job procedures
(other than selecting higher withholding
rate tables) set forth in forms, instructions,
publications, and other guidance. For this
purpose, the proposed regulations indicate
that “regular wages” means wages paid by
an employer for a payroll period either at
a regular periodic rate (e.g., daily, hourly)
or at a predetermined fixed amount. The
Treasury Department and the IRS antic-
ipate that this change of status rule will
promote accuracy in withholding without
imposing unnecessary burden in requiring
new Forms W-4 for smaller changes in
regular wages. As in prior years, in 2020,
the income tax withholding tables in Pub-
lication 15-T do not adequately account
for increases in regular wages for em-
ployees who utilize the multiple job pro-
cedures (other than selecting higher with-
holding rate tables) because these wages
may be subject to a higher marginal rate
of income tax on the employee’s income
tax return.
Fourth, if an employee claims a child
tax credit on a Form W-4 and expects
the number of qualifying children with
respect to whom a child tax credit was
claimed to decrease, the proposed regu-
lations provide that the employee expe-
riences a change of status with respect to
the Form W-4 on which the child tax cred-
it was claimed.
Fifth, if an employee has claimed any
tax credit, including a child tax credit, and
the amount of tax credits the employee
reasonably expects to claim decreases by
more than $500, the proposed regulations
provide that the employee experienc-
es a change of status with respect to the
Form W-4 on which these tax credits are
claimed.
Sixth, the proposed regulations provide
that an employee experiences a change of
status with respect to deductions the em-
ployee reasonably expects to claim (such
as itemized deductions in excess of the
basic standard deduction corresponding to
the employee’s claimed filing status) if the
employee reasonably expects the deduc-
tions claimed on the employee’s tax return
to decrease by more than $2,300.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
anticipate that these dollar thresholds for
requiring a new Form W-4 will account
for decreases in credits and deductions and
will promote accuracy in the withholding
system. Indeed, these threshold amounts
for requiring a new Form W-4 will lead to
more accuracy than the change of status
rules in the current regulations that are in
effect for 2019, which turn on the value
of one allowance that historically has been
tied to the pre-TCJA personal exemption
amount, which for 2019 is $4,200.
17
Ac-
cordingly, this proposed change of status
rule should help make withholding more
accurate and thereby decrease the risk of
underwithholding for employees.
Seventh, an employee experiences a
change of status under the proposed reg-
ulations if he or she no longer reasonably
expects to be able to claim exemption
from withholding under section 3402(n)
and proposed §31.3402(n)-1. This change
can occur if the employee expects to incur
an income tax liability under subtitle A for
either the current or the previous calendar
year.
Finally, similar to the rule in §31.3402(f)
(2)-1(b)(2) of the current regulations,
these proposed regulations provide that
if an employee experiences a change of
status that increases the employee’s with-
holding allowance, the employee may fur-
nish the employer with a new Form W-4
claiming the increased withholding al-
lowance the employee is entitled to claim
under proposed §31.3402(f)(1)-1(b). Like
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(b)(3) of the current reg-
ulations, these proposed regulations also
provide that if, on any day during the cal-
endar year, the employee may claim ex-
emption from withholding under section
3402(n) and proposed §31.3402(n)-1, the
employee may furnish the employer with
a new Form W-4 claiming exemption
from withholding.
c. Special rules relating to withholding
allowance certificates
These proposed regulations provide
that employers should request each em-
ployee to furnish a new Form W-4 for
the next calendar year before December 1
of each year, in the event of a change to
an employee’s withholding allowance. A
similar rule is in §31.3402(f)(2)-1(c)(3) of
17
Under section 3 of Notice 2018-92, an employee would experience a change of status if the employee’s claimed deductions decrease by more than $4,200 or if the employee’s claimed
tax credits decrease by as much as $1,554 (i.e., assuming the individual is taxed at the highest marginal tax rate in section 1(j) of 37%, the maximum benefit from a tax credit equivalent to
$4,200 in deductions is $1,554).

Bulletin No. 2020–10 473 March 2, 2020
the current regulations, which states that
employers should request each employee
to furnish a new Form W-4. These pro-
posed regulations update the current “ex-
emption status” nomenclature to “with-
holding allowance,” which is defined in
proposed §31.3402(f)(1)-1(b).
These proposed regulations provide
that an employee must include the em-
ployee’s social security number on the
signed Form W-4 the employee furnishes
to the employer. An employee may not
use a truncated social security number
in completing the employee’s Form W-4
because a person may not truncate his or
her own taxpayer identification number on
any statement or document the person fur-
nishes to another person. See §301.6109-
4(b)(2)(iv). A similar rule is set forth in
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(d) of the current regula-
tions.
These proposed regulations continue the
rule that any alteration or unauthorized ad-
dition to a Form W-4 causes a Form W-4
to be invalid.
18
In addition, any oral or
written statement clearly indicating that an
employee’s Form W-4 is false that an em-
ployee makes to the employer on or before
the date on which the employee furnishes
the Form W-4 causes the employee’s Form
W-4 to be invalid. An employer that re-
ceives an invalid Form W-4 must disregard
the invalid Form W-4 for purposes of com-
puting withholding. The employer must
inform the employee that the Form W-4 is
invalid and must request another Form W-4
from the employee. If the employee fails to
comply with the employer’s request the
employer must withhold according to the
employee’s last valid Form W-4 in effect. If
no valid Form W-4 is in effect, the employ-
er must treat the employee as single but
having the withholding allowance provid-
ed by the forms, instructions, and publica-
tions prescribed by the IRS. This treatment
is consistent with default rates described
in section 8(a) of this Explanation of Pro-
visions that apply if an employee fails to
furnish a valid W-4 upon commencement
of employment.
These proposed regulations remove
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(f) of the current regula-
tions, which provides that the withholding
exemption certificate shall be used for
purposes of withholding with respect to
qualified State individual taxes, as well
as Federal Tax. Section 31.3402(f)(2)-1(f)
relates to a subchapter of the Code that
was repealed by section 11801(a)(45) of
Title XI of the Omnibus Budget Reconcil-
iation Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-508,
104 Stat. 1388-522 (repealing Subchapter
E of Chapter 64).
d. Submission of certain withholding
allowance certificates
These proposed regulations continue
the rule in the current regulations regard-
ing the submission of withholding exemp-
tion certificates to the IRS but update any
reference to “withholding exemption cer-
tificate” to “withholding allowance certif-
icate”. Under these proposed regulations,
the IRS may, by written notice or through
published guidance in the IRB, request
submission of a Form W-4.
19
e. Notice of maximum withholding
allowance permitted
These proposed regulations continue
the rule from the current regulations re-
garding the notice prescribing the maxi-
mum number of withholding exemptions
an employee may claim (a lock-in letter)
but update any reference to “maximum
number of withholding exemptions per-
mitted” to “maximum withholding al-
lowance.” This change is consistent with
TCJA’s changes to section 3402(f)(1). In
addition, these proposed regulations re-
place the term “marital status” with an
employee’s “filing status.” These pro-
posed regulations also replace references
to “number of exemptions” with “with-
holding allowance” to implement TCJA’s
changes to section 3402(f)(1).
These proposed regulations are con-
sistent with section 3 of Notice 2019-92,
which provided that, until further guidance
is issued, any reference to a withholding
exemption in the regulations and guidance
under section 3402 is applied as if it were
a reference to a withholding allowance.
20

Proposed §31.3402(f)(1)-1(b) prescribes
the withholding allowance an employee is
entitled to, and, therefore, the maximum
withholding allowance the employee is
entitled to is based on that definition. Cor-
respondingly, the IRS and the Treasury
Department have determined that the no-
tices issued under §31.3402(f)(2)-1(g)(2),
including a lock-in letter or a modification
notice, which the IRS may issue subse-
quently to a lock-in letter to modify an
employee’s filing status and/or permitted
withholding allowance, will be updated
to reflect the 2020 Form W-4 withholding
procedures. These proposed regulations
update the reference to the withhold-
ing allowance certificate if an employee
subject to a lock-in letter requests more
withholding or requests less withholding
to correspond to proposed §31.3402(f)
(1)-1(b) (defining the withholding allow-
ance to which the employee is entitled),
§31.3402(i)-1(a)(1) and (2) (providing
for voluntary increases in the amount of
withholding not otherwise required under
section 3402), and proposed §31.3402(l)-
1(b) (providing for the filing status an em-
ployee may claim on the Form W-4). If an
employer is required to apply a maximum
withholding allowance prescribed by a
lock-in letter or modification notice, and
the employee subsequently furnishes the
employer a new Form W-4, the employer
must put this new Form W-4 into effect
only if it requires the employer to with-
hold more income tax than prescribed by
the lock-in letter or modification notice.
If the new Form W-4 would result in less
income tax being withheld from the em-
ployee’s wages, the employer may not put
the Form W-4 into effect.
Consistent with section 9 of Notice
2018-92, these proposed regulations
eliminate the requirement that the em-
ployer send a written response to the IRS
18
Similar to the rule in the current regulations, proposed §31.3402(f)(5)-1(b)(1) provides that an alteration of a Form W-4 is any deletion of the language of the jurat or other similar provision
of the Form W-4 by which the employee certifies or affirms the correctness of the completed Form W-4, or any material defacing the Form W-4. Proposed §31.3402(f)(5)-1(b)(2) provides that
an unauthorized addition to a Form W-4 is any writing on the Form W-4 other than the entries requested on the Form W-4 (e.g., name, address, and filing status) or permitted by instructions
or other guidance.
19
Separate procedures apply to examination of returns, which are further discussed in §601.105.
20
Section 3 of Notice 2018-92 further provides, as an example, that the language in §31.3402(f)(2)-1(g)(2)(i) providing for an IRS notification process to specify a “maximum number of
withholding exemptions” an employee may claim will be applied as a reference to a maximum number of withholding allowances.

March 2, 2020 474 Bulletin No. 2020–10
office designated in the lock-in letter that
the employee is not employed by the em-
ployer. Notices issued under §31.3402(f)
(2)-1(g)(2) will continue to provide that
if an employer no longer employs an
employee, no action is required. These
proposed regulations also include minor
non-substantive changes with regard to
the lock-in letter.
Finally, these proposed regulations
provide for three special rules in deter-
mining the withholding allowance for
employees who are subject to a lock-in
letter or who request that the IRS issue
a modification notice to modify a lock-
in letter. First, the anticipated tax benefit
from any tax credit or deduction must be
offset by the anticipated tax attributable
to items includible in the employee’s
gross income in the manner determined
by the IRS. Second, the section 31(a)
credit may not be taken into account.
Third, estimated tax payments may not
be taken into account. The Treasury De-
partment and the IRS have determined
that these special rules are appropriate
because taxpayers subject to a lock-in
letter have been significantly noncom-
pliant with wage withholding rules and
requirements for payment of income tax
liability. Moreover, these rules will gen-
erally be applied by the IRS in preparing
any modification notice, once such notic-
es have been revised to incorporate the
2020 Form W-4 withholding procedures,
and thus concerns that apply to other
employees regarding the complexity of
these computations do not apply to em-
ployees subject to a lock-in letter.
9. When a Withholding Allowance
Certificate Takes Effect
Section 31.3402(f)(3)-1 of the current
regulations was last updated in 1983 by
T.D. 7915, 48 F.R. 44072-01 (September
27,1983). These proposed regulations up-
date the regulations under section 3402(f)
(3) to reflect the statutory rules enacted in
section 10302 of the Omnibus Reconcil-
iation Act of 1987, Pub. L. No. 100-203,
101 Stat. 1330, 1330-429 (1987). As not-
ed in section 2, above, these rules apply
to withholding exemption certificates, and
any reference to withholding allowance
certificates or Forms W-4 includes a ref-
erence to a withholding exemption certif-
icate, furnished and effective on or before
December 31, 2017.
Specifically, section 3402(f)(3)(A)
provides that when there is no withhold-
ing allowance certificate in effect for a
particular employee, and the employee
furnishes a withholding allowance certif-
icate to the employer, the employer must
put the certificate into effect as of the be-
ginning of the first payroll period ending
after the date the certificate is furnished.
If the payment of wages is made without
regard to a payroll period, the employer
must put the withholding allowance cer-
tificate into effect as of the first payment
of wages after it is furnished. These pro-
posed regulations reiterate the statutory
rule.
Under section 3402(f)(3)(B), if the
employer has a valid withholding allow-
ance certificate in effect with respect to
a particular employee, and the employee
furnishes a withholding allowance cer-
tificate to take effect during the calendar
year, the employer must put the certifi-
cate into effect as of the beginning of the
first payroll period ending (or the first
payment of wages made without regard
to a payroll period) on or after the 30th
day after the day on which the certificate
is furnished. An employer may elect to
put a withholding allowance certificate
into effect earlier but no earlier than on or
after the day the withholding allowance
certificate is furnished. An employer may
not put into effect a withholding allow-
ance certificate furnished to take effect
in the next calendar year under section
3402(f)(2)(C) until the next calendar
year. These proposed regulations reiter-
ate these statutory rules.
10. Period During Which Withholding
Exemption Certificates Remain in Effect
The proposed regulations remove
§31.3402(f)(4)-1 of the current regula-
tions, which applies to withholding ex-
emption certificates furnished prior to
January 1, 1982. Generally, withholding
exemption or allowance certificates con-
tinue in effect until replaced by a new
Form W-4. The Treasury Department and
the IRS have determined that the rules
discussed in section 11 of this Explanation
of Provisions are sufficient to account for
Forms W-4 in effect under prior law.
11. Effective Period of a Withholding
Allowance Certificate
Similar to the current regulations, the
proposed regulations provide that Forms
W-4 that took effect under prior law gen-
erally remain in effect until another Form
W-4 is furnished. See section 3402(f)(4).
This applies with respect to withholding
exemption certificates and Forms W-4
furnished on or before December 31,
2019, including those that are in effect on
December 31, 2019, that have not been
superseded by a new Form W-4 furnished
to be effective for 2020 or subsequent
years. However, under these proposed
regulations, a Form W-4 furnished by an
employee subject to a lock-in letter ceas-
es to be effective when the lock-in letter
takes effect unless the Form W-4 results
in more withholding than prescribed by
the lock-in letter. If the employee’s Form
W-4 results in more withholding than pre-
scribed by the lock-in letter, the employer
should continue withholding according
to the employee’s Form W-4, even after
the employee is released from the lock-in
letter. If the employer had been withhold-
ing according to a lock-in letter, upon
the employee’s release from the lock-in
letter, the proposed regulations provide
that the employee must furnish his or her
employer a new valid Form W-4 in order
to ensure that withholding after release
from the lock-in letter is as accurate as
possible. If the employee fails to do so,
the employee will be treated as single
but having the withholding allowance
provided in forms, instructions, publica-
tions, and other guidance prescribed by
the Commissioner, in accordance with
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(a)(4). Accordingly, an
employee subject to a lock-in letter and
subsequently released who does not fur-
nish a new Form W-4 would be treated
as single or married filing separately in
Step 1(c) of the 2020 Form W-4 with no
entries in Step 2, Step 3, or Step 4 of the
2020 Form W-4, once withholding com-
pliance notices are modified for 2020
withholding procedures.
These proposed regulations delete the
cross reference in §31.3402(f)(4)-2(b) of
the current regulations to the withholding
allowance under section 3402(m) because
this cross-reference is designed to high-
light a distinction relevant to Forms W-4

Bulletin No. 2020–10 475 March 2, 2020
furnished before 1982. Even though this
distinction is no longer relevant, these
proposed regulations continue the gener-
al rule in the current regulations and pro-
vide that an employee who claims deduc-
tions, credits, or other items under section
3402(m) must furnish a new Form W-4
when he or she experiences a change of
status to which the rules under proposed
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(b) (change of status
that affects the current calendar year) or
proposed §31.3402(f)(2)-1(e) (change of
status that affects the next calendar year)
apply.
These proposed regulations continue
the rule of the current regulations and pro-
vide that Forms W-4 that claim exemption
from withholding under section 3402(n)
generally are effective up to and includ-
ing February 15 of the following year, and
an employer may continue to rely on an
employee’s Form W-4 claiming exemp-
tion from withholding until February 16
of the following year. See section 3402(n)
(providing in flush language that the Sec-
retary shall by regulations provide for the
coordination of the provisions of section
3402(n) and section 3402(f)). However,
these proposed regulations provide that
if a Form W-4 claiming exemption from
withholding expires, and the employee
does not furnish a valid Form W-4 either
renewing his or her exemption or claiming
a withholding allowance, the employer
must treat the employee as single but hav-
ing the withholding allowance provided in
forms, instructions, publications, and oth-
er guidance prescribed by the IRS. Unlike
the current regulations, these proposed
regulations do not require the employer to
put into effect a previously furnished valid
Form W-4 when an employee’s Form W-4
claiming exemption from withholding ex-
pires.
For 2020, Publication 15 instructs em-
ployers to treat employees who claimed
exemption from withholding in 2019 and
who do not furnish a new 2020 Form W-4
as single or married filing separately in
Step 1(c) of the 2020 Form W-4 with no
entries in Step 2, Step 3, or Step 4 of the
2020 Form W-4. This treatment is consis-
tent with default rates described in section
8(a) of this Explanation of Provisions that
apply if an employee fails to furnish a
Form W-4 upon commencement of em-
ployment.
12. Form and Contents of Withholding
Allowance Certificates
These proposed regulations provide
that the withholding allowance certificate
required to be furnished under section
3402(f)(2) is the Form W-4. The Form
W-4 is called the “Employee’s Withhold-
ing Certificate.” Previously, for years 1972
through 2019, the Form W-4 was called
the “Employee’s Withholding Allowance
Certificate.” The name of the form was
changed for the 2020 revision because the
Form W-4 is no longer based on a num-
ber of withholding allowances valued at a
particular dollar amount. Blank copies of
paper Forms W-4 will be supplied to em-
ployers upon request to the IRS. An em-
ployer may also download and print Form
W-4 from the IRS Internet site at www.irs.
gov. These proposed regulations provide
rules similar to §31.3402(f)(5)-1(a) of the
current regulations relating to substitute
paper Forms W-4.
These proposed regulations provide
that, unless provided otherwise in forms,
instructions, publications, or other guid-
ance prescribed by the IRS, only the Form
W-4 revision in effect for a calendar year
may be furnished by an employee in that
calendar year and given legal effect by the
employer as a new Form W-4 or to replace
a previously furnished Form W-4. How-
ever, an employee may furnish the Form
W-4 revision for the following calendar
year in the current calendar year to take ef-
fect for the following calendar year. These
proposed regulations provide an example
illustrating this rule.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have received questions from payroll
groups on the extent to which employ-
ers have to comply with revenue proce-
dures relating to substitute forms when
providing paper substitute Forms W-4 to
employees. Rev. Proc. 2018-51, 2018-44
I.R.B. 721 (also published in Publication
1167, “General Rules and Specifications
for Substitute Forms and Schedules”)
applies to any substitute paper Forms
W-4. However, because the broader
purpose of Rev. Proc. 2018-51 and Pub-
lication 1167 is to provide guidance on
forms filed with the IRS, and the Form
W-4 is generally not filed with the IRS,
the Treasury Department and the IRS re-
quest comments on whether additional
guidance is needed regarding substitute
paper Forms W-4.
These proposed regulations also pro-
vide rules similar to §31.3402(f)(5)-1(b)
of the current regulations relating to in-
valid Forms W-4. However, these pro-
posed regulations replace any reference to
“withholding exemption certificate” with
a reference to the “withholding allowance
certificate” because of TCJA’s changes to
section 3402(f)(5) and clarify certain pro-
visions. Under these proposed regulations,
an unauthorized addition to a Form W-4 is
any writing on the certificate other than the
entries on the Form W-4 (e.g., name, ad-
dress, and filing status). An unauthorized
addition does not include entries on the
Form W-4 permitted by the instructions or
other guidance. Thus, a 2020 Form W-4
with an entry “Exempt” on Form W-4 in
the space below Step 4(c) is not an un-
authorized addition because this entry is
permitted by the 2020 Form W-4 instruc-
tions. Similarly, an entry on the Form W-4
indicating an employee is a nonresident
alien individual is not an unauthorized ad-
dition because this entry is permitted by
Notice 1392, “Supplemental Form W-4
Instructions for Nonresident Aliens.” The
proposed regulations clarify, however,
that an entry claiming exemption from
withholding that is accompanied by any
other entry on the Form W-4 (other than
the employee’s filing status) that could po-
tentially affect the amount of income tax
withheld from the employee’s pay (i.e., an
entry on Step 2, Step 3, or Step 4 of the
2020 Form W-4) is an unauthorized addi-
tion and, thus, a Form W-4 that includes
such an entry is invalid.
In addition to all the rules under
§31.3402(f)(5)-1(c) of the current regula-
tions related to electronic Form W-4 sys-
tems, these proposed regulations provide
that an employer that maintains an elec-
tronic Form W-4 system for its employees
to furnish Forms W-4 electronically must
provide the employee with the same infor-
mation as the current version of the offi-
cial IRS Form W-4 available on irs.gov
and must satisfy any requirements spec-
ified by the IRS in forms, publications,
and other guidance. These proposed reg-
ulations further provide that an employer
that maintains an electronic Form W-4
system for its employees must provide the
employees the ability to claim exemption

March 2, 2020 476 Bulletin No. 2020–10
from withholding under section 3402(n)
and must include the two certifications de-
scribed in proposed §31.3402(n)-1(a).
13. Withholding Exemptions for
Nonresident Alien Individuals
Section 3402(f)(6) provides that a non-
resident alien individual (other than an
individual described in section 3401(a)
(6)(A) or (B))
21
shall be entitled to only
one withholding exemption. The Treasury
Department and the IRS have concluded
that the withholding exemption referenced
in section 3402(f)(6) is the deduction al-
lowed to the nonresident alien individual
under section 151, which for 2018-2025
means zero under section 151(d)(5).
These proposed regulations include this
clarification.
In addition, proposed §31.3402(f)(6)-
1(a) provides that a nonresident alien indi-
vidual (other than a nonresident individual
treated as a resident under section 6013(g)
and (h)) must follow administrative guid-
ance such as forms, instructions, publica-
tions, or other guidance prescribed by the
IRS that apply to the nonresident alien in-
dividual’s withholding. For 2020, nonres-
ident alien individuals should review and
apply Notice 1392 to determine how to
complete the 2020 Form W-4. Employers
are instructed to apply special procedures
in Publication 15-T for these individuals.
The application of the procedures in the
2020 Publication 15-T depends on wheth-
er the nonresident alien individual has fur-
nished a Form W-4 on or after January 1,
2020.
14. Supplemental Wage Payments
These proposed regulations provide
that mandatory flat rate withholding under
§31.3402(g)-1(a)(2) is computed without
regard to any entries on a Form W-4, in-
cluding the expanded entries on the 2020
Form W-4. In addition, optional flat rate
withholding under §31.3402(g)-1(a)(7)
applies without regard to any entries on
the Form W-4 other than the entry claim-
ing exempt status. However, employ-
ers who use the aggregate procedure for
withholding on supplemental wages under
§31.3402(g)-1(a)(6) of the current regu-
lations should take into consideration the
Form W-4 (including a 2020 Form W-4)
furnished by the employee.
15. Alternative Withholding Methods
The proposed regulations eliminate the
combined income tax withholding and
employee FICA tax withholding tables
under §31.3402(h)(4)-1(b) of the current
regulations. The Treasury Department
and the IRS announced their intention
to eliminate these tables in section 8 of
Notice 2018-92. No comments were re-
ceived on this issue. As stated in section
8 of Notice 2018-92, although employers
may withhold a combined amount of in-
come and FICA tax, employers must still
compute and report amounts of income
tax and FICA tax separately on quarter-
ly or annual employment tax returns and
Forms W-2. Though use of the combined
tables would generally reduce the number
of computations in determining the with-
holding from wages for an employer, this
difference in the number of computations
has become less relevant with the advance
in computational technology since 1970
when these tables were first provided.
Moreover, the combined tables are not
consistent with these proposed regulations
as applied to certain entries on the 2020
Form W-4. Specifically, income tax must
be withheld with respect to an employ-
ee’s entry in Step 4(a) (Other income) of
the 2020 Form W-4, which applies pro-
posed §31.3402(i)-1(a)(2)(i). An employ-
er must reduce wages by an employee’s
entry in Step 4(b) (Deductions) of the
2020 Form W-4, which applies proposed
§31.3402(m)-1(b). However, neither the
entry in Step 4(a) nor the entry on Step
4(b) impacts employees’ FICA tax liabili-
ty under section 3101. Thus, an employer
who is furnished a Form W-4 with entries
on either Step 4(a) or Step 4(b) would not
be able to use combined tables, which fur-
ther diminishes the usefulness of this al-
ternative withholding procedure.
Because section 8 of Notice 2018-92
announced the Treasury Department’s and
the IRS’ intent to remove the combined in-
come tax withholding and employee FICA
tax withholding tables, this rule will be
proposed with an effective date of January
1, 2020. Accordingly, the 2020 version of
Publication 15-T does not include com-
bined income tax withholding and em-
ployee FICA tax withholding tables. The
Treasury Department and the IRS again
request comments on alternative with-
holding procedures under section 3402(h)
generally. However, the Treasury Depart-
ment and the IRS do not consider allowing
employees to base their withholding on a
fixed dollar amount or percentage as con-
sistent with section 3402(a).
16. Additional Withholding
These proposed regulations remove
§31.3402(i)-1 of the current regulations
because this provision applies to agree-
ments to withhold additional amounts
of Federal income tax, not otherwise re-
quired, entered into before October 1,
1981. The Treasury Department and the
IRS request comments on whether this
rule should be retained.
17. Increases in Withholding
Section 3402(i) provides that the Sec-
retary may by regulations provide for in-
creases in the amount of withholding in
cases in which an employee requests such
changes. The current regulations express
this rule as an agreement to withhold “an
additional amount” from the employee’s
wages. See §31.3402(i)-1(a). This rule
was consistent with the format of Form
W-4 for years prior to 2020 with respect to
the line requesting an additional amount
to be withheld from each payment of reg-
ular wages. To reflect the revised com-
putational procedures on the 2020 Form
W-4, these proposed regulations provide
that, for amounts not otherwise required
to be withheld from an employee’s wages
under section 3402, in addition to speci-
fying an additional amount to withhold
from the employee’s wages, the employee
may request that an additional amount be
added to the employee’s wages on Form
W-4, so that the employer may withhold
an additional amount of income tax result-
ing from this addition under the compu-
tational procedures prescribed by the IRS
in forms, instructions, publications, and
other guidance for the calendar year for
21
Although section 3402(f)(6) references section 3401(a)(6)(A) or (B), section 3401(a)(6) was amended so that there are no longer separately enumerated subparagraphs (A) or (B). Thus, this
reference applies to section 3401(a)(6) and §31.3401(a)(6)-1 of the current regulations.

Bulletin No. 2020–10 477 March 2, 2020
which the Form W-4 is in effect. In addi-
tion, these proposed regulations provide
that an employee may request an addition-
al amount, not otherwise required, to be
withheld from the employee’s wages by
selecting higher withholding rate tables.
These proposed regulations also clar-
ify the circumstances under which the
employer must comply with the employ-
ee’s request. Employers must generally
comply with the employee’s request on
a valid Form W-4 after the employer has
withheld all amounts otherwise required
to be withheld by Federal law (other than
by amounts described in this section),
state law, and local law (other than by
state or local law that provides for volun-
tary withholding). The amounts withheld
under section 3402(i) are considered tax
required to be withheld under section
3402. Finally, these proposed regulations
delete references to decreases in with-
holding under section 3402(i) because of
statutory changes made in section 1581
of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Pub. L.
No. 99-514, 100 Stat 2085, 2766 (1987),
which eliminated the option to decrease
withholding by a set dollar amount from
section 3402(i).
18. Exemption from withholding
These proposed regulations add
certain clarifying rules to the rules in
§31.3402(n)-1 of the current regulations
concerning claiming an exemption from
withholding, and thereby propose to re-
store in substance rules that were for-
merly in the regulations. See 26 CFR
31.3402(n)-1(2005). To qualify for the
exemption provided by section 3402(n)
for a taxable year, an employee must cer-
tify that the employee incurred no liabil-
ity for income tax imposed under subtitle
A of the Code for the employee’s preced-
ing taxable year, and that the employee
anticipates that he or she will incur no li-
ability for income tax imposed under sub-
title A for the current taxable year. These
proposed regulations amend the current
regulations to add a provision concerning
when the employee is considered to incur
no liability for income tax imposed under
subtitle A. Specifically, §31.3402(n)-1(c)
of these proposed regulations provides
that, for purposes of section 3402(n) and
§31.3402(n)-1 of the regulations, an em-
ployee is not considered to incur liabil-
ity for income tax imposed under subti-
tle A if the amount of the tax is equal to
or less than the total amount of credits
against the tax that are allowable to the
employee under chapter 1, other than the
credits allowable under section 31 or 34.
Proposed §31.3402(n)-1(c) also provides
that, for purposes of section 3402(n) and
§31.3402(n)-1, an employee who files a
joint return under section 6013 is consid-
ered to incur liability for any tax shown
on that return. These proposed regula-
tions provide that an employee who is
entitled to file a joint return under section
6013 shall not certify that the employee
anticipates that he or she will incur no
liability for income tax imposed by sub-
title A for the employee’s current taxable
year if the statement would not be true in
the event the employee files a joint return
for the year, unless the employee filed a
separate return for the preceding taxable
year and anticipates that he or she will
file a separate return for the current tax-
able year.
The rule concerning incurring liability
for income tax imposed by Subtitle A and
the rule concerning joint returns were in
the regulations before 2006 (see 26 CFR
31.3402(n)-1(2005)) but were deleted by
T.D. 9276, 71 FR 42049 (July 26, 2006).
This deletion did not indicate a change in
position by the Treasury Department and
the IRS, and the position of the Treasury
Department and the IRS on these issues
has remained the same as reflected in
Publication 505 for each year from 2007
through 2019. Restoring the rules to the
regulations is intended to provide addi-
tional clarity and guidance as to the Trea-
sury Department and the IRS position on
these issues.
Proposed Applicability Date
The amendments set forth in this no-
tice of proposed rulemaking are gen-
erally proposed to apply on the date of
publication of a Treasury Decision adopt-
ing these rules as final regulations in the
Federal Register. Taxpayers may rely
on the rules set forth in this notice of pro-
posed rulemaking, in their entirety, until
the date a Treasury Decision adopting
these regulations as final regulations is
published in the Federal Register. How-
ever, proposed §31.3402(f)(2)-1(g) re-
lating to withholding compliance is pro-
posed to apply as of the date the notice of
proposed rulemaking is published in the
Federal Register, proposed §31.3402(f)
(5)-1(a)(3) regarding the requirement to
use the current version of Form W-4 is
proposed to apply as of 30 days after the
date the notice of proposed rulemaking is
published in the Federal Register, and
the proposed removal of §31.3402(h)
(4)-1(b) relating to the combined income
tax withholding and employee FICA tax
withholding tables is proposed to apply
on and after January 1, 2020. Except with
regard to the removal of §31.3402(h)(4)-
1(b), the proposed regulations provide
that, under section 7805(b)(7), taxpayers
may choose to apply the rules therein on
or after January 1, 2020.
Paperwork Reduction Act
Any collection of information associat-
ed with this notice of proposed rulemak-
ing has been submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget for review under
OMB control number 1545-0074 in accor-
dance with the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507(d)). In general,
the collection of information is required
under § 3402 of the Internal Revenue
Code (the Code). The Treasury Depart-
ment and the IRS request comments on all
aspects of information collection burdens
related to these proposed regulations, in-
cluding estimates for how much time
it would take to comply with the paper-
work burdens described in OMB control
number 1545-0074 and ways for the IRS
to minimize the paperwork burden. An
agency may not conduct or sponsor and a
person is not required to respond to a col-
lection of information unless it displays a
valid OMB control number.
Special Analyses
I. Regulatory Planning and Review
This regulation is not subject to review
under section 6(b) of Executive Order
12866 pursuant to the Memorandum of
Agreement (April 11, 2018) between the
Department of the Treasury and the Office
of Management and Budget regarding re-
view of tax regulations.

March 2, 2020 478 Bulletin No. 2020–10
II. Regulatory Flexibility Act
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act
(RFA) (5 U.S.C. chapter 6), it is hereby
certified that these proposed regulations,
if adopted, would not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number
of small entities that are directly affected
by the proposed regulations. The proposed
regulations will apply to all employers
that have an income tax withholding ob-
ligation and, therefore, are likely to affect
a substantial number of small entities. Al-
though the proposed regulations are likely
to affect a substantial number of small en-
tities, the economic impact of the regula-
tions will not be significant.
These proposed regulations do not
independently impact employers or em-
ployees because these regulations support
both the 2019 and 2020 Form W-4 and
related withholding procedures, and em-
ployees are not required to furnish a new
Form W-4 solely because of the redesign
of the Form W-4. Employees who have
a Form W-4 on file with their employer
from years prior to 2020 generally will
continue to have their withholding deter-
mined based on that form. These proposed
regulations incorporate the changes made
by TCJA to sections 3401 and 3402 and
conform the regulations to provide flexi-
ble and administrable rules for income tax
withholding from wages to implement the
2020 Form W-4 and its related tables and
computational procedures described in
Publication 15-T, and to work with Forms
W-4 provided in 2019 and earlier years.
Any economic impact on small entities
that have an income tax withholding ob-
ligation is generally a result of the change
in underlying substantive tax rules which
led to revisions in the method of comput-
ing withholding, not these proposed regu-
lations. Because the proposed regulations
preserve the option of continuing to use
old Forms W-4 for existing employees
who have not had significantly changed
circumstances, the proposed regulations
minimize impact of the statutory chang-
es on employers, including small entities.
Accordingly, Treasury and the IRS certi-
fy that this proposed rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substan-
tial number of small entities pursuant to
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.
chapter 6). Notwithstanding this certifica-
tion, the Treasury Department and the IRS
invite comments on any impact this rule
would have on small entities.
Pursuant to section 7805(f), this notice
of proposed rulemaking has been submit-
ted to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy
of the Small Business Administration for
comment on its impact on small business.
III. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) requires
that agencies assess anticipated costs and
benefits and take certain other actions be-
fore issuing a final rule that includes any
Federal mandate that may result in expen-
ditures in any one year by a state, local,
or tribal government, in the aggregate, or
by the private sector, of $100 million in
1995 dollars, updated annually for infla-
tion. This rule does not include any Fed-
eral mandate that may result in expendi-
tures by state, local, or tribal governments,
or by the private sector in excess of that
threshold.
IV. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
Executive Order 13132 (entitled
“Federalism”) prohibits an agency from
publishing any rule that has federalism
implications if the rule either imposes
substantial, direct compliance costs on
state and local governments, and is not
required by statute, or preempts state law,
unless the agency meets the consultation
and funding requirements of section 6 of
the Executive Order. This proposed rule
does not have federalism implications and
does not impose substantial direct compli-
ance costs on state and local governments
or preempt state law within the meaning
of the Executive Order.
Statement of Availability of IRS
Documents
IRS Revenue Procedures, Revenue
Rulings, and Notices cited in this pream-
ble are published in the Internal Revenue
Bulletin (or Cumulative Bulletin) and
are available from the Superintendent of
Documents, U.S. Government Publish-
ing Office, Washington, DC 20402, or by
visiting the IRS web site at http://www.
irs.gov.
Comments and Requests for a Public
Hearing
Before these proposed regulations are
adopted as final regulations, consideration
will be given to any electronic and writ-
ten comments that are submitted timely
to the IRS as prescribed in this preamble
under the “ADDRESSES” heading. The
Treasury Department and the IRS request
comments on all aspects of the proposed
rules. All comments will be available at
http://www.regulations.gov or upon re-
quest. A public hearing will be scheduled
if requested in writing by any person that
timely submits written comments. If a
public hearing is scheduled, notice of the
date, time, and place for the public hearing
will be published in the Federal Register.
Drafting Information
The principal author of these proposed
regulations is Mikhail Zhidkov, Office of
the Associate Chief Counsel (Employee
Benefits, Exempt Organizations, and Em-
ployment Taxes). Other personnel from
the Treasury Department and the IRS par-
ticipated in their development.
List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 31
Employment taxes, Fishing vessels,
Gambling, Income taxes, Penalties, Pen-
sions, Railroad retirement, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Social secu-
rity, Unemployment compensation.
Proposed Amendments to the
Regulations
Accordingly, 26 CFR part 31 is pro-
posed to be amended as follows:
PART 31—EMPLOYMENT TAXES
AND COLLECTION OF INCOME
TAX AT SOURCE
Paragraph 1. The authority citation for
part 31 is amended by adding an entry for
§31.3402 in numerical order to read as
follows:
Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * *
* * * * *
Section 31.3402 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 3402(i) and (m)
* * * * *

Bulletin No. 2020–10 479 March 2, 2020
§31.3401(e)-1 [Removed]
Par. 2. Section 31.3401(e)-1 is re-
moved.
Par. 3. Section 31.3402(a)-1 is amend-
ed by adding paragraphs (g) and (h) to
read as follows:
§31.3402(a)-1 Requirement of withhold-
ing.
* * * * *
(g) Definitions and Interchangeable
Terms.—For purposes of Chapter 24 and
this Subpart E of Part 31 of the Employ-
ment Tax Regulations:
(1) References to “withholding ex-
emption certificate” include “withholding
allowance certificate” unless otherwise
stated in Subpart E of Part 31 of the Em-
ployment Tax Regulations.
(2) [Reserved]
(h) Applicability date.—The provi-
sions of paragraph (g) of this section apply
on and after [DATE OF PUBLICATION
OF FINAL REGULATIONS IN THE
FEDERAL REGISTER]. Under section
7805(b)(7) a taxpayer may choose to ap-
ply paragraph (g) of this section on and
after January 1, 2020.
Par. 4. Section 31.3402(b)-1 is revised
to read as follows:
§31.3402(b)-1 Percentage method of
withholding.
(a) Percentage method of withholding.
The amount of tax to be deducted and
withheld from an employee’s wages under
the percentage method of withholding is
determined based on the entry for the em-
ployee’s anticipated filing status or marital
status and other entries on the employee’s
withholding allowance certificate using
the applicable percentage method tables
and computational procedures set forth in
the applicable forms, instructions, publi-
cations, and other guidance prescribed by
the Commissioner issued with respect to
the period in which wages are paid.
(b) Applicability date. The provisions
of this section apply on and after [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER]. For rules that apply before [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER], see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. Under section 7805(b)(7)
a taxpayer may choose to apply this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2020.
Par. 5. Section 31.3402(c)-1 is amend-
ed by:
1. Revising paragraph (a)(1).
2. Redesignating paragraph (a)(2) as
paragraph (a)(3).
3. Adding a new paragraph (a)(2).
4. Revising paragraph (b).
5. In paragraph (c)(1), revising the first
sentence
6. Adding paragraph (f).
The revisions and additions read as fol-
lows:
§31.3402(c)-1 Wage bracket withhold-
ing.
(a) * * *
(1) The employer may elect to use the
wage bracket method provided in section
3402(c) instead of the percentage meth-
od with respect to any employee. The tax
computed under the wage bracket meth-
od shall be in lieu of the tax required to
be deducted and withheld under section
3402(a).
(2) The amount of tax to be deducted
and withheld from an employee’s wages
under the wage bracket method of with-
holding is determined based on the entry
for the employee’s anticipated filing status
or marital status and other entries on the
employee’s withholding allowance cer-
tificate using the applicable wage bracket
method tables and computational proce-
dures set forth in the applicable forms,
instructions, publications, and other guid-
ance prescribed by the Commissioner is-
sued with respect to the period in which
wages are paid.
* * * * *
(b) Established payroll periods, oth-
er than daily or miscellaneous, covered
by wage bracket withholding tables. The
wage bracket withholding tables applica-
ble to the employee’s filing status set forth
in forms, instructions, publications, and
other guidance prescribed by the Commis-
sioner for established periods other than
daily or miscellaneous should be used in
determining the tax to be deducted and
withheld for any such period without ref-
erence to the time the employee is actual-
ly engaged in the performance of services
during such payroll period.
(c) * * *
(1) * * * The tables applicable to a dai-
ly or miscellaneous payroll period show
the tentative amount of tax to be deducted
and withheld from an employee’s wages
for the employee’s filing status for one
day.* * *
* * * * *
(f) Applicability date. The provisions
of this section apply on and after [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER]. For rules that apply before [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER], see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. Under section 7805(b)(7)
a taxpayer may choose to apply this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2020.
Par. 6. Section 31.3402(f)(1)-1 is re-
vised to read as follows:
§31.3402(f)(1)-1 Withholding allow-
ance.
(a) In general. (1) Except as other-
wise provided in section 3402(f)(6) (see
§31.3402(f)(6)-1), an employee receiving
wages will, on any day, be entitled to a
withholding allowance as provided in sec-
tion 3402(f)(1) and paragraph (b) of this
section. In order to receive the benefit of
the withholding allowance, the employee
must furnish to the employer a valid with-
holding allowance certificate in effect for
the calendar year as provided in section
3402(f)(2) and §31.3402(f)(2)-1.
(2) The employer is not required to
ascertain whether the withholding allow-
ance claimed is greater than the with-
holding allowance to which the employ-
ee is entitled. For rules relating to invalid
withholding allowance certificates, see
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(f)(3), for rules relat-
ing to required submission of copies of
certain withholding allowance certifi-
cates to the Internal Revenue Service,
see §31.3402(f)(2)-1(g)(1), and for rules
relating to the notice of the maximum
withholding allowance permitted, see
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(g)(2).
(b) Withholding allowance defined.
(1) Generally, the withholding allow-
ance to which an employee is entitled is
determined under the computational pro-
cedures prescribed by the Commissioner
in forms, instructions, publications, and
other guidance for the calendar year for
which the withholding allowance certifi-
cate is in effect.
(2) The withholding allowance is deter-
mined based on the following—
(i) Whether the employee is an indi-
vidual for whom a deduction is allowable

March 2, 2020 480 Bulletin No. 2020–10
with respect to another taxpayer under
section 151;
(ii) If the employee is married, wheth-
er the employee’s spouse is an individual
for whom a deduction is allowable with
respect to another taxpayer under section
151 but only if such spouse does not have
in effect a withholding allowance certifi-
cate claiming such deduction;
(iii) If the employee is married, wheth-
er the employee’s spouse is entitled to ad-
ditional deductions, credits, or other items
the employee elects to take into account
under §31.3402(m)-1 or would be so enti-
tled if the employee’s spouse were an em-
ployee receiving wages, but only if such
spouse does not have in effect a withhold-
ing allowance certificate claiming such
allowance;
(iv) Any credit under section 24(a) that
the employee reasonably expects to be
able to claim on the employee’s income
tax return for the calendar year for which
the withholding allowance certificate is in
effect, except that the employee may not
take into account any credit under section
24(a) if this credit is claimed on another
valid withholding allowance certificate in
effect with respect to another employer of
the employee or the employee’s spouse.
In addition, an employee whose employer
must withhold for that employee pursu-
ant to a notice under §31.3402(f)(2)-1(g)
(2) must offset any tax benefit resulting
from a credit under section 24(a) with
any anticipated income tax attributable to
items other than wages includible in the
employee’s gross income in the manner
prescribed by the Commissioner;
(v) Any additional deductions, credits,
or other items the employee elects to take
into account under §31.3402(m)-1 for the
calendar year for which the withholding
allowance certificate is in effect;
(vi) The basic standard deduction (as
defined in section 63(c)(2)) relating to the
filing status the employee reasonably ex-
pects to claim on the employee’s income
tax return for the calendar year for which
the withholding allowance certificate is in
effect; and
(vii) Any adjustment resulting from
multiple withholding allowance cer-
tificates the employee, the employee’s
spouse, or both have or reasonably expect
to have in effect with respect to one or
more employers, determined based on the
instructions to the withholding allowance
certificate and other guidance for the cal-
endar year for which the withholding al-
lowance certificate is in effect.
(c) Applicability date. The provisions
of this section apply on and after [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER]. For rules that apply before [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER], see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. Under section 7805(b)(7)
a taxpayer may choose to apply this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2020.
Par. 7. Section 31.3402(f)(2)-1 is re-
vised to read as follows:
§31.3402(f)(2)-1 Furnishing of with-
holding allowance certificates
(a) On commencement of employment.
(1) On or before the date on which an in-
dividual commences employment with
an employer, the individual must furnish
the employer with a signed withholding
allowance certificate (see §31.3402(f)
(5)-1) relating to the filing status the em-
ployee reasonably expects to claim under
§31.3402(l)-1(b) for the calendar year for
which the withholding allowance certif-
icate is in effect and the withholding al-
lowance under §31.3402(f)(1)-1(b) that
the employee claims.
(2) In no event may the withholding
allowance exceed the withholding allow-
ance that the employee is entitled to as
determined based on the employee’s rea-
sonable expectations and the instructions
set forth in forms, instructions, publica-
tions, and other guidance prescribed by
the Commissioner.
(3) The employee may claim exemp-
tion from withholding if the certifica-
tions described in section 3402(n) and
§31.3402(n)-1(a)(1) and (2) are true with
respect to the employee.
(4) If an employee has no valid with-
holding allowance certificate in effect
with the employer at the time of the pay-
ment of the wages, and fails to furnish a
valid withholding allowance certificate to
the employer, the employee will be treat-
ed as single but having the withholding
allowance provided in forms, instructions,
publications, and other guidance pre-
scribed by the Commissioner.
(b) Change of status that affects cal-
endar year—(1) General rule. If, on any
day during the calendar year, the employ-
ee experiences a change of status that re-
duces the employee’s withholding allow-
ances, or withholding allowance in the
manner described in paragraph (b)(2) of
this section, the employee must, within 10
days after the change occurs, furnish the
employer with a new withholding allow-
ance certificate claiming the withholding
allowance to which the employee is en-
titled under §31.3402(f)(1)-1(b), unless
paragraph (b)(3) of this section applies to
the employee.
(2) Changes of status. A change of sta-
tus occurs if any of the following changes
occur on any day during the calendar year:
(i) The employee’s filing status chang-
es in the manner described in §31.3402(l)-
1(c).
(ii) The employee no longer has only
one withholding allowance certificate in
effect for the employee, the employee’s
spouse, or both, and the employee or the
employee’s spouse selects higher with-
holding rate tables on the additional with-
holding allowance certificate, but higher
withholding rate tables are not selected
on any previously furnished withholding
allowance certificate.
(iii) The employee has multiple with-
holding allowance certificates in effect
on which higher withholding rate tables
are not selected, and the employee or the
employee’s spouse reasonably expects an
increase in regular wages for the calendar
year (as defined in §31.3402(g)-1(a)(1)
(ii)) in excess of $10,000.
(iv) The employee has included on a
valid withholding allowance certificate
the child tax credit allowed under section
24(a) but reasonably expects the number
of individuals who satisfy the definition
of “qualifying child” as defined in section
24(c) who will be reported on the employ-
ee’s income tax return for the year for
which tax is being withheld to be less than
the number taken into account in complet-
ing the withholding allowance certificate.
(v) The employee has included on a val-
id withholding allowance certificate a tax
credit allowed under section 24(a) or other
tax credits allowed under § 31.3402(m)-
1 but reasonably expects the employee’s
tax credits that will be reported on the em-
ployee’s income tax return for the year for
which tax is being withheld to decrease
by more than $500 from the amount taken

Bulletin No. 2020–10 481 March 2, 2020
into account in completing the withhold-
ing allowance certificate.
(vi) The employee has included on a
valid withholding allowance certificate
deductions allowed under § 31.3402(m)-
1 but reasonably expects the employee’s
included income tax deductions that will
be reported on the employee’s income tax
return for the year for which tax is being
withheld to decrease by more than $2,300
from the amount taken into account in
completing the withholding allowance
certificate.
(vii) It is no longer reasonable for an
employee who has furnished the employer
with a withholding allowance certificate
which relies upon the certifications de-
scribed in §31.3402(n)-1(a) to anticipate
that the employee will incur no liability
for income tax imposed under subtitle A
of the Code for the current or previous
taxable year.
(3) Exception. If one or more of the
changes described in paragraph (b)(2) of
this section occurs, but the total effect
of the changes together with any other
changes affecting the employee’s antici-
pated tax liability under Subtitle A is not
anticipated to result in an amount of tax
to be deducted and withheld from the em-
ployee’s wages under section 3402 for the
year that is less than the employee’s an-
ticipated tax liability under Subtitle A, the
employee is not required to furnish a new
withholding allowance certificate.
(c) Increase in withholding allowance.
If, on any day during the calendar year, the
employee experiences a change of status
that increases the employee’s withholding
allowance, the employee may furnish the
employer with a new withholding allow-
ance certificate claiming the withholding
allowance the employee is entitled to un-
der §31.3402(f)(1)-1(b).
(d) Exemption from withholding. If, on
any day during the calendar year, the certi-
fications described in section 3402(n) and
§ 31.3402(n)-1(a)(1) and (2) are true with
respect to an employee, the employee may
furnish his employer with a withholding
allowance certificate claiming exemption
from withholding in the manner described
in forms, instructions, publications, and
other guidance prescribed by the Com-
missioner.
(e) Change of status which affects
next calendar year—(1) General rule. If,
on any day during the calendar year, the
withholding allowance to which the em-
ployee will be, or may reasonably be ex-
pected to be, entitled under § 31.3402(f)
(1)-1(b) for the next calendar year, but not
for the current calendar year, decreases in
the manner prescribed in paragraph (b)(2)
of this section, the employee must furnish
a new withholding allowance certificate
claiming the withholding allowance the
employee is entitled to under §31.3402(f)
(1)-1(b) to take effect in the next calendar
year by the later of December 1 of the cal-
endar year of the year in which the change
occurs or within 10 days after the change
occurs, unless paragraph (e)(2) of this sec-
tion applies to the employee.
(2) Exception. If one or more of the
changes in paragraph (b)(2) of this section
occurs, but the total effect of the changes
together with any other changes affecting
the employee’s anticipated tax liability
under subtitle A is not anticipated to re-
sult in an amount of tax to be deducted and
withheld from the employee’s wages un-
der section 3402 for the employee’s next
year that is less than the employee’s an-
ticipated tax liability under Subtitle A, the
employee is not required to furnish a new
withholding allowance certificate.
(f) Special rules—(1) Employer re-
quests. Before December 1 of each year,
every employer should request each em-
ployee to furnish a new withholding al-
lowance certificate for the next calendar
year, in the event of a change to the em-
ployee’s withholding allowance.
(2) Social security account numbers.
Every individual to whom a social securi-
ty number has been assigned must include
such number on any withholding allow-
ance certificate furnished to an employ-
er. An employee may not use a truncated
social security number (see §301.6109-4)
in completing the withholding allowance
certificate. For provisions relating to the
obtaining of an account number from
the Social Security Administration, see
§31.6011(b)-2.
(3) Invalid withholding allowance cer-
tificates—(i) General rule. Any alteration
of or unauthorized addition to a with-
holding allowance certificate causes such
certificate to be invalid; see §31.3402(f)
(5)-1(b) for the definitions of alteration
and unauthorized addition. Any with-
holding allowance certificate which the
employee clearly indicates to be false by
an oral statement or by a written statement
(other than one made on the withholding
allowance certificate itself) made by the
employee to the employer on or before
the date on which the employee furnish-
es such certificate is also invalid. For
purposes of the preceding sentence, the
term “employer” includes any individual
authorized by the employer either to re-
ceive withholding allowance certificates,
to make withholding computations, or to
make payroll distributions.
(ii) Employer disregard of invalid
withholding allowance certificate. If an
employer receives an invalid withholding
allowance certificate, the employer must
disregard it for purposes of computing
withholding. The employer must inform
the employee who furnished the certificate
that it is invalid, and must request another
withholding allowance certificate from the
employee. If the employee who furnished
the invalid certificate fails to comply with
the employer’s request, the employer must
treat the employee as single but having
the withholding allowance provided by
the forms, instructions, publications, and
other guidance prescribed by the Com-
missioner. If, however, a prior certificate
is in effect with respect to the employee,
the employer must continue to withhold in
accordance with the prior certificate.
(g) Submission of certain withhold-
ing allowance certificates and notice of
maximum withholding allowance permit-
ted—(1) Submission of certain withhold-
ing allowance certificates—(i) In general.
An employer must submit to the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) a copy of any cur-
rently effective withholding allowance
certificate as directed in a written notice to
the employer from the IRS or as directed
in published guidance.
(A) Notice to submit withholding al-
lowance certificates. A notice to the em-
ployer to submit withholding allowance
certificates may relate either to one or
more named employees, to one or more
reasonably segregable units of the em-
ployer, or to withholding allowance cer-
tificates under certain specified criteria.
The notice will designate the IRS office
to which the copies of the withholding
allowance certificates must be submitted.
Alternatively, upon notice from the IRS,
the employer must make available for in-

March 2, 2020 482 Bulletin No. 2020–10
spection by an IRS employee withholding
allowance certificates received from one
or more named employees, from one or
more reasonably segregable units of the
employer, or from employees who have
furnished withholding allowance certifi-
cates under certain specified criteria.
(B) Published guidance. Employers
may also be required to submit copies of
withholding allowance certificates under
certain specified criteria when directed
to do so by the IRS in published guid-
ance in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (see
§601.601(d)(2) of this chapter).
(ii) Withholding after submission of
withholding allowance certificate. After
a copy of a withholding allowance cer-
tificate has been submitted to the IRS
under this paragraph (g)(1), the employ-
er must withhold tax on the basis of the
withholding allowance certificate, if the
withholding allowance certificate meets
the requirements of §31.3402(f)(5)-1.
However, the employer may not withhold
on the basis of the withholding allowance
certificate if the certificate must be disre-
garded based on a notice of the maximum
withholding allowance permitted under
the provisions of paragraph (g)(2) of this
section.
(2) Notice of the maximum withholding
allowance permitted—(i) Notice to em-
ployer. The IRS may notify the employer
in writing that the employee is not enti-
tled to claim a complete exemption from
withholding or more than the maximum
withholding allowance specified by the
IRS in the written notice. The notice will
also specify the applicable filing status
for purposes of calculating the required
amount of withholding. The notice will
specify the IRS office to be contacted for
further information. The notice of maxi-
mum withholding allowance permitted
may be issued if—
(A) The IRS determines that a copy
of a withholding allowance certificate
submitted under paragraph (g)(1) of this
section or otherwise provided to the IRS
includes a materially incorrect statement
or determines, after a request to the em-
ployee for verification of the statements
on the certificate, that the IRS lacks suffi-
cient information to determine if the cer-
tificate is correct; or
(B) The IRS otherwise determines that
the employee is not entitled to claim a
complete exemption from withholding
and is not entitled to claim more than a
specified number of withholding exemp-
tions, withholding allowances, or a speci-
fied withholding allowance.
(ii) Notice to employee. If the IRS pro-
vides a notice to the employer under this
paragraph (g)(2), the IRS will also provide
the employer with a similar notice for the
employee (employee notice) that identi-
fies the maximum withholding allowance
permitted and specifies the filing status
to be used for calculating the required
amount of withholding for the employee.
The employee notice will also indicate
the process by which the employee can
provide additional information to the IRS
for purposes of determining the appropri-
ate withholding allowance and/or modi-
fying the specified filing status. The IRS
will also mail a similar notice to the em-
ployee’s last known address. For further
guidance regarding the definition of last
known address, see §301.6212-2 of this
chapter. If the IRS is unable to determine
a last known address for the employee, the
IRS will use other available information
as appropriate to mail the notice to the em-
ployee.
(iii) Requirement to furnish. If the em-
ployee is employed by the employer as
of the date of the notice, the employer
must furnish the employee notice to the
employee within 10 business days of re-
ceipt. The employer may follow any rea-
sonable business practice to furnish the
copy of the notice to the employee. For
purposes of this paragraph (g)(2)(iii), the
determination of whether an employee is
employed as of the date of the notice is
based on all the facts and circumstanc-
es, including whether the employer has
treated the employment relationship as
terminated for other purposes. An em-
ployee who is not performing services
for the employer as of the date of the no-
tice is employed by the employer as of
the date of the notice for purposes of this
paragraph (g)(2)(iii) if—
(A) The employer pays wages with re-
spect to prior employment to the employ-
ee subject to income tax withholding on or
after the date specified in the notice;
(B) The employer reasonably expects
the employee to resume the performance
of services for the employer within twelve
months of the date of the notice; or
(C) The employee is on a bona fide
leave of absence and either the period of
such leave does not exceed twelve months
or the employee retains a right to re-
employment with the employer under an
applicable statute or by contract.
(iv) Requirement to withhold based on
the notice. If the employer is required to
furnish the employee notice to the em-
ployee under paragraph (g)(2)(iii) of this
section, then the employer must withhold
tax on the basis of the maximum with-
holding allowance and the filing status
specified in the notice for any wages paid
after the date specified in the notice, ex-
cept as provided in paragraphs (g)(2)(v)
through (ix) of this section. The employ-
er must withhold tax in accordance with
the notice as of the date specified in the
notice, which shall be no earlier than 45
calendar days after the date of the notice.
(v) Employment resumes after twelve
months. If the employer is required to fur-
nish the employee notice to the employ-
ee only pursuant to paragraph (g)(2)(iii)
(B) of this section and the employee re-
sumes the performance of services for the
employer more than 12 months after the
date of the notice, then the employer is not
required to withhold based on the notice.
(vi) Requirement to withhold based on
an existing Form W-4. If a withholding al-
lowance certificate is in effect with respect
to the employee before the employer re-
ceives a notice of the maximum withhold-
ing allowance permitted under this para-
graph (g)(2), the employer must continue
to withhold tax in accordance with the ex-
isting withholding allowance certificate,
rather than on the basis of the notice, if the
existing withholding allowance certificate
does not claim complete exemption from
withholding and claims a filing status, a
withholding allowance, and any addition-
al amount under §31.3402(i)-1(a)(1) and
(2) that results in more withholding than
would result from applying the filing sta-
tus and withholding allowance specified
in the notice.
(vii) Modification notice. After issu-
ing the notice specifying the maximum
withholding allowance permitted and the
filing status, the IRS may issue a subse-
quent notice to the employer and the em-
ployee that modifies the original notice
(modification notice). The modification
notice may change the filing status and/

Bulletin No. 2020–10 483 March 2, 2020
or the withholding allowance permitted.
The employer must withhold based on the
modification notice as of the date speci-
fied in the modification notice.
(viii) Requirement to withhold after
termination of employment. If the em-
ployee is employed as of the date of the
notice under paragraph (g)(2)(iii) of this
section but the employer or employee ter-
minates the employment relationship after
the date of the notice, the employer must
continue to withhold based on the maxi-
mum withholding allowance and the filing
status specified in the notice or a modifica-
tion notice if any wages subject to income
tax withholding are paid with respect to
the prior employment after such date.
Furthermore, the employer must with-
hold based on the notice or modification
notice if the employee resumes an em-
ployment relationship with the employer
within 12 months after the termination of
the employment relationship. Whether the
employment relationship is terminated is
based on all the facts and circumstances.
(ix) Requirement to withhold based on
new Form W-4. The employee may fur-
nish a new withholding allowance certif-
icate after the employer receives a notice
or modification notice from the IRS of the
maximum withholding allowance permit-
ted under this paragraph (g)(2).
(A) Employee requests more withhold-
ing. If the employee furnishes a new with-
holding allowance certificate after the em-
ployer receives the notice or modification
notice, the employer must withhold tax on
the basis of that new certificate only if the
new certificate does not claim complete
exemption from withholding and claims a
filing status, a withholding allowance, and
any additional amount under §31.3402(i)-
1(a)(1) and (2) that results in more with-
holding than would result under the notice
or modification notice.
(B) Employee requests less withhold-
ing. If the employee furnishes a new
withholding allowance certificate after
the employer receives the notice or mod-
ification notice, the employer must dis-
regard the new certificate and withhold
on the basis of the notice or modification
notice if the employee claims complete
exemption from withholding or claims
a filing status, a withholding allow-
ance, and any additional amount under
§31.3402(i)-1(a)(1) and (2) that results in
less withholding than would result under
the notice or modification notice. If the
employee wants to put a new certificate
into effect that results in less withhold-
ing than that required under the notice
or modification notice, the employee
must contact the IRS. The employer must
withhold on the basis of the notice or
modification notice unless the IRS subse-
quently notifies the employer to withhold
based on the new certificate.
(3) Definition of employer. For purpos-
es of this paragraph (g), the term employer
includes any person authorized by the em-
ployer to receive withholding allowance
certificates, to make withholding compu-
tations, or to make payroll distributions.
(4) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the rules of this section.
(i) Example 1. Employer U receives a notice
from the IRS that identifies the maximum with-
holding allowance permitted and specifies the filing
status for Employee A. Employee A is not currently
performing any services for Employer U. However,
Employer U is continuing to make certain wage pay-
ments to Employee A. Employer U must furnish the
employee notice to Employee A within 10 business
days of receipt and must withhold based on the no-
tice on any wages paid to Employee A on or after the
date specified in the notice.
(ii) Example 2. Employer V receives a notice in
October of Year 1 from the IRS that identifies the
maximum withholding allowance permitted and
specifies the filing status for Employee B. Employee
B has not performed services for Employer V since
August of Year 1. However, since Employee B has
performed services for Employer V for several years
on a seasonal basis, Employer V reasonably expects
Employee B to resume the performance of services
for Employer V in June of Year 2, a date that is with-
in 12 months of the date of the notice. Employer V is
required to furnish the notice to Employee B within
10 business days of receipt. Employee B does not
resume the performance of services with Employer
V until June of Year 3. Employer V is not required to
withhold based on the notice.
(iii) Example 3. Employer W receives a notice
from the IRS that identifies the maximum withhold-
ing allowance permitted and specifies the filing sta-
tus for Employee C. Employee C began a 4-month
unpaid maternity leave of absence three weeks be-
fore Employer W received the notice. Employer W
must furnish the employee notice to Employee C
within 10 business days of receipt. When her mater-
nity leave ends and Employee C resumes performing
services for Employer W, Employer W must with-
hold based on the notice.
(iv) Example 4. Employer X receives a notice
from the IRS in Year 1 that identifies the maximum
withholding allowance permitted and specifies the
filing status for Employee D. Employer X must
furnish the employee notice to Employee D within
10 business days of receipt and withhold based on
the notice. In Year 2, Employee D terminates the
employment relationship. Employee D applies for
a different position with Employer X and resumes
employment 10 months after having left her previ-
ous position with Employer X. Since Employer X re-
hired Employee D within 12 months after the termi-
nation of employment, Employer X must withhold
based on the notice.
(v) Example 5. Employer Y receives a notice
from the IRS that identifies the maximum withhold-
ing allowance permitted and specifies the filing sta-
tus for Employee E. Employer Y must furnish the
employee notice to Employee E within 10 business
days of receipt. After receipt of this notice, Employ-
ee E contacts the IRS and establishes that the em-
ployee is entitled to claim a modified filing status and
withholding allowance. Employer Y receives a mod-
ification notice from the IRS that changes the maxi-
mum withholding allowance permitted for Employee
E. Employer Y must withhold tax based on the modi-
fication notice as of the date specified in such notice.
(vi) Example 6. Employer Z pays remuneration
to Employee F, a United States citizen, for services
performed in Country M. Employer Z receives a no-
tice from the IRS in Year 1 that identifies the maxi-
mum withholding allowance permitted and specifies
the filing status for Employee F. Employer Z must
furnish the employee notice to Employee F within
10 business days of receipt. Employer Z reasonably
believes all the remuneration paid to Employee F in
Year 1 is excluded from Employee F’s gross income
under section 911. Since section 3401(a)(8)(B) ex-
cludes such remuneration from wages for income tax
withholding purposes, Employer X does not have
to withhold on such remuneration, notwithstanding
the maximum withholding allowance permitted and
filing status specified in the notice. In Year 2, Em-
ployee F returns to the United States to perform ser-
vices. Employer Z does not reasonably believe any
part of Employee F’s remuneration paid in Year 2
is excluded from Employee F’s gross income under
section 911. Rather, Employer Z reasonably believes
that remuneration paid to Employee F in Year 2 is
subject to income tax withholding. Employer Z must
withhold on the remuneration paid to Employee F in
Year 2 based on the notice.
(h) Applicability date. The provisions
of paragraph (g) of this section apply on
February 13, 2020. For rules that apply
under paragraph (g) before February 13,
2020, see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. The provisions of para-
graphs (a) through (f) of this section ap-
ply on and after [DATE OF PUBLICA-
TION OF FINAL REGULATIONS IN
THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. For rules
that apply before [DATE OF PUBLI-
CATION OF FINAL REGULATIONS
IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER], see
26 CFR part 31, revised as of March 14,
2019. Under section 7805(b)(7) a taxpay-
er may choose to apply paragraphs (a)
through (g) of this section on and after
January 1, 2020.
Par. 8. Section 31.3402(f)(3)-1 is re-
vised to read as follows:

March 2, 2020 484 Bulletin No. 2020–10
§31.3402(f)(3)-1 When withholding al-
lowance certificate takes effect.
(a) No withholding allowance certifi-
cate on file. A withholding allowance cer-
tificate furnished to the employer in any
case in which no previous withholding
allowance certificate is in effect with such
employer, takes effect as of the beginning
of the first payroll period ending, or the
first payment of wages made without re-
gard to a payroll period, on or after the
date on which such certificate is so fur-
nished.
(b) Withholding allowance certificate
on file. Except as provided in paragraph (c)
of this section, a withholding allowance
certificate furnished to the employer in
any case in which a previous withholding
allowance certificate is in effect with such
employer takes effect as of the beginning
of the 1st payroll period ending (or the 1st
payment of wages made without regard to
a payroll period) on or after the 30th day
after the day on which such certificate is
so furnished. However, the employer may
elect to put a withholding allowance cer-
tificate into effect earlier, beginning with
any payment of wages on or after the day
on which the certificate is so furnished.
(c) Withholding allowance certificate
furnished to take effect in next calendar
year. A withholding allowance certificate
furnished to the employer pursuant to sec-
tion 3402(f)(2)(C) (see §31.3402(f)(2)-
1(e) or §31.3402(l)-1(c)) which effects a
change for the next calendar year, does not
take effect, and may not be made effec-
tive, with respect to the calendar year in
which the certificate is furnished.
(d) Applicability date. The provisions
of this section apply on [DATE OF PUB-
LICATION OF FINAL REGULA-
TIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER]. For rules that apply before [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER], see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. Under section 7805(b)(7)
a taxpayer may choose to apply this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2020.
§31.3402(f)(4)-1 [Removed]
Par. 9. Section 31.3402(f)(4)-1 is re-
moved.
§31.3402(f)(4)-2 [Redesignated as
§31.3402(f)(4)-1]
Par. 10. Section 31.3402(f)(4)-2 is re-
designated as §31.3402(f)(4)-1.
Par. 11. Newly redesignated
§31.3402(f)(4)-1 is revised to read as fol-
lows:
§31.3402(f)(4)-1 Effective period of a
withholding allowance certificate.
(a) In general. Except as provid-
ed in paragraph (b) of this section and
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(g)(2), a withholding al-
lowance certificate that takes effect under
section 3402(f) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 continues in effect with re-
spect to the employee until another with-
holding allowance certificate takes effect
under section 3402(f).
(b) Certifications under section
3402(n) eliminating requirement of with-
holding. The certifications described in
§31.3402(n)-1(a) made by an employee
with respect to the employee’s preceding
taxable year and current taxable year are
effective until either a new withholding
allowance certificate furnished by the
employee takes effect or the existing cer-
tificate that relies upon such certifications
expires. If an employee’s certificate ex-
pires and the employee fails to furnish a
valid withholding allowance certificate,
the employee will be treated as single
but having the withholding allowance
provided in forms, instructions, publica-
tions, and other guidance prescribed by
the IRS. In no case shall a withholding
allowance certificate that relies upon
such certifications be effective with re-
spect to any payment of wages made to
an employee:
(1) In the case of an employee whose
liability for tax under subtitle A is deter-
mined on a calendar year basis, after Feb-
ruary 15 of the calendar year following the
estimation year, or
(2) In the case of an employee to whom
paragraph (b)(1) of this section does not
apply, after the 15th day of the 2nd cal-
endar month following the last day of the
estimation year.
(c) Estimation year. The estimation
year is the taxable year including the
day on which the employee furnishes the
withholding allowance certificate to the
employer, except that if the employee fur-
nishes the withholding allowance certifi-
cate to the employer and specifies on the
certificate that the certificate is not to take
effect until a specified future date, the es-
timation year will be the taxable year in-
cluding that specified future date.
(d) Applicability to notice of maximum
withholding allowance. If a withholding
allowance certificate is no longer in effect
because of the application of §31.3402(f)
(2)-1(g)(2), the employer is no longer re-
quired to withhold pursuant to any notice
under §31.3402(f)(2)-1(g)(2), and the em-
ployee fails to furnish the employer a val-
id withholding allowance certificate, then
the employee will be treated as single but
having the withholding allowance provid-
ed in forms, instructions, publications, and
other guidance prescribed by the Commis-
sioner, in accordance with §31.3402(f)(2)-
1(a)(4).
(e) Applicability date. The provisions
of this section apply on and after [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER]. For rules that apply before [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER], see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. Under section 7805(b)(7)
a taxpayer may choose to apply this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2020.
Par. 12. Section 31.3402(f)(5)-1 is re-
vised to read as follows:
§31.3402(f)(5)-1 Form and contents of
withholding allowance certificates
(a) In general—(1) Form W-4. Form
W-4, “Employee’s Withholding Certif-
icate,’’ previously called “Employee’s
Withholding Allowance Certificate,” is
the form prescribed for the withholding
allowance certificate required to be fur-
nished under section 3402(f)(2). A with-
holding allowance certificate must be pre-
pared in accordance with the instructions
applicable thereto, and must set forth fully
and clearly the information that is called
for therein. In lieu of the prescribed form,
an employer may prepare and provide to
employees a form the provisions of which
are identical to those of the prescribed
form, but only if the employer also pro-
vides employees with all the tables, in-
structions, and worksheets set forth in the
Form W-4 in effect at that time, and only
if the employer complies with all revenue
procedures relating to substitute forms in
effect at that time.
(2) Employee substitute forms. Em-
ployers are prohibited from accepting a
substitute form developed by an employ-
ee, and an employee furnishing such form
will be treated as failing to furnish a with-

Bulletin No. 2020–10 485 March 2, 2020
holding allowance certificate. For further
guidance regarding the employer’s ob-
ligations when an employee is treated as
failing to furnish a withholding allowance
certificate, see §31.3402(f)(2)-1.
(3) Current year revision. Only the
Form W-4 revision in effect for a calendar
year may be furnished by an employee in
that calendar year and given legal effect
by the employer, unless provided other-
wise in forms, instructions, publications,
or other guidance, except that an employ-
ee may furnish the Form W-4 revision for
the following calendar year in the current
calendar year to take effect for the follow-
ing calendar year.
(4) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the rule in paragraph (a)(3) of
this section.
(i) Example 1. Employee A furnishes a 2019
Form W-4 to Employer X in calendar year 2020. The
2019 Form W-4 furnished by Employee A in 2020
has no legal effect. Employer X must disregard this
2019 Form W-4 furnished in 2020 and continue to
withhold based on a previously furnished Form W-4
that has been in effect for Employee A, if any. If Em-
ployee A has no Form W-4 in effect, she is treated
as having no valid withholding allowance certificate
in effect.
(ii) Example 2. Employee A furnishes a 2021
Form W-4 to Employer X in calendar year 2020 to
take effect in calendar year 2021. The 2021 Form
W-4 is valid, and the employer must put this form in
effect in 2021 in accordance with the timing rules in
§31.3402(f)(3)-1.
(b) Invalid Form W-4. A Form W-4
does not meet the requirements of section
3402(f)(5) or this section and is invalid if
it includes an alteration or unauthorized
addition. For purposes of §31.3402(f)(2)-
1(f)(3) and this paragraph (b)—
(1) An alteration of a withholding al-
lowance certificate is any deletion of the
language of the jurat or other similar pro-
vision of such certificate by which the em-
ployee certifies or affirms the correctness
of the completed certificate, or any mate-
rial defacing of such certificate;
(2) An unauthorized addition to a
withholding allowance certificate is any
writing on such certificate other than
the entries requested on the Form W-4
(e.g., name, address, and filing status) or
permitted by instructions or other guid-
ance. For purposes of this rule, an entry
claiming exemption from withholding
that is accompanied by other entries on
the Form W-4 (other than the employee’s
filing status) that could potentially affect
the amount of income tax deducted and
withheld from the employee’s pay is an
unauthorized addition; consequently, the
employer must treat the Form W-4 as an
invalid Form W-4.
(c) Electronic Form W-4—(1) In gen-
eral. An employer may establish a system
for its employees to furnish withholding
allowance certificates electronically.
(2) Requirements—(i) In general. The
electronic system must ensure that the
information received is the information
sent, and must document all occasions
of employee access that result in the fur-
nishing of a Form W-4. In addition, the
design and operation of the electronic
system, including access procedures,
must make it reasonably certain that the
person accessing the system and furnish-
ing the Form W-4 is the employee identi-
fied in the form.
(ii) Information to employer. The elec-
tronic furnishing must provide the em-
ployer with exactly the same information
as the current version of the official In-
ternal Revenue Service (IRS) Form W-4
available on irs.gov.
(iii) Information to employee. The
electronic Form W-4 system must provide
the employee with the same information
as the current version of the official IRS
Form W-4 available on irs.gov and must
satisfy any requirements specified by
the IRS in forms, publications, and other
guidance. The electronic Form W-4 sys-
tem must provide employees the ability to
claim exemption from withholding under
section 3402(n) and must include the two
certifications described in §31.3402(n)-
1(a).
(iv) Jurat and signature requirements.
The electronic furnishing must be signed
by the employee under penalties of perju-
ry.
(A) Jurat. The jurat (perjury statement)
must contain the language that appears on
the paper Form W-4. The electronic pro-
gram must inform the employee that he or
she must make the declaration set forth in
the jurat and that the declaration is made
by signing the Form W-4. The instructions
and the language of the jurat must imme-
diately follow the employee’s income tax
withholding selections and immediately
precede the employee’s electronic signa-
ture.
(B) Electronic signature. The electron-
ic signature must identify the employee
furnishing the electronic Form W-4 and
authenticate and verify the furnishing. For
this purpose, the terms “authenticate” and
“verify” have the same meanings as they
do when applied to a written signature on
a paper Form W-4. An electronic signature
can be in any form that satisfies the fore-
going requirements. The electronic signa-
ture must be the final entry in the employ-
ee’s Form W-4 furnishing.
(v) Copies of electronic Forms W-4.
Upon request by the Internal Revenue
Service, the employer must supply a hard
copy of the electronic Form W-4 and a
statement that, to the best of the employ-
er’s knowledge, the electronic Form W-4
was furnished by the named employee.
The hardcopy of the electronic Form W-4
must provide exactly the same informa-
tion as, but need not be a facsimile of, the
paper Form W-4.
(d) Applicability date. The provisions
of this section apply on and after [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REG-
ULATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REG-
ISTER], except that paragraph (a)(3) of
this section applies on and after March 16,
2020. For rules that apply before [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER], see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. Under section 7805(b)(7)
a taxpayer may choose to apply this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2020.
Par. 13. Section 31.3402(f)(6)-1 is re-
vised to read as follows:
§31.3402(f)(6)-1 Withholding exemp-
tions for nonresident alien individuals.
(a) In general. (1) A nonresident alien
individual (other than a nonresident alien
individual treated as a resident under sec-
tion 6013(g) or (h)) subject to withhold-
ing under section 3402 is on any one day
entitled to the number of withholding ex-
emptions corresponding to the number of
personal exemptions to which the nonres-
ident alien is entitled on such day by rea-
son of the application of section 873(b)(3)
or section 876, whichever applies. Thus,
a nonresident alien individual who is not
a resident of Canada or Mexico and who
is not a resident of Puerto Rico during the
entire taxable year, is allowed only one
withholding exemption.
(2) The withholding exemption in
paragraph (a) of this section and section
3402(f)(6) is the deduction allowed to the

March 2, 2020 486 Bulletin No. 2020–10
nonresident alien individual under section
151.
(b) Additional guidance. A nonresident
alien individual (other than a nonresident
alien individual treated as a resident under
section 6013(g) or (h)) subject to with-
holding must follow administrative guid-
ance such as forms, instructions, publica-
tions, or other guidance prescribed by the
IRS to determine the nonresident alien’s
withholding allowance.
(c) Applicability date. The provisions
of this section apply on and after [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER]. For rules that apply before [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER], see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. Under section 7805(b)(7)
a taxpayer may choose to apply this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2020.
Par. 14. Section 31.3402(g)-1 is amend-
ed by
1. In paragraph (a)(2), revising the sec-
ond sentence.
2. In paragraph (a)(7)(ii), revising the
first sentence.
3. Adding paragraph (d).
The revisions and addition read as fol-
lows:
Sec. 31.3402(g)-1 Supplemental wage
payments.
(a) * * *
(2) * * * This flat rate shall be applied
without regard to whether income tax has
been withheld from the employee’s regu-
lar wages, and without regard to any en-
tries on Form W-4, including whether the
employee has claimed exempt status on
Form W-4 or whether the employee has
requested additional withholding on Form
W-4, and without regard to the withhold-
ing method used by the employer. * * *
* * * * *
(7) * * *
(ii) * * * The determination of the tax
to be withheld under paragraph (a)(7)(iii)
of this section is made without reference
to any payment of regular wages and with-
out regard to any entries on the Form W-4
other than the entry claiming exempt sta-
tus on Form W-4 (see §31.3402(n)-1(b)).
* * *
* * * * *
(d) Applicability date. The provisions
of paragraph (a)(2) and (a)(7)(ii) of this
section apply on and after [DATE OF
PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGULA-
TIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER]. Under section 7805(b)(7) a taxpay-
er may choose to apply paragraph (a)(2)
and (a)(7)(ii) of this section on and after
January 1, 2020.
§31.3402(h)(4)-1 [Amended]
Par. 15. Section 31.3402(h)(4)-1 is
amended by removing paragraph (b) and
redesignating paragraph (c) as paragraph
(b).
§31.3402(i)-1 [Removed]
Par. 16. Section 31.3402(i)-1 is re-
moved.
§31.3402(i)-2 [Redesignated as
§31.3402(i)-1]
Par. 17. Section 31.3402(i)-2 is redes-
ignated as §31.3402(i)-1.
Par. 18. Newly redesignated
§31.3402(i)-1 is amended by:
1. Revising the section heading.
2. Revising paragraph (a)(2).
3. Adding paragraph (a)(3).
4. Revising paragraph (b).
The revisions and addition read as fol-
lows:
§31.3402(i)-1 Increases in withhold-
ing.
(a) * * *
(2) Increases in withholding based on
additional income. (i) The employee may
request that the employer add an addition-
al amount to the employee’s wages and
that the employer deduct and withhold an
additional amount of income tax result-
ing from this addition under the compu-
tational procedures prescribed by the IRS
in forms, instructions, publications, and
other guidance for the calendar year for
which the withholding allowance certifi-
cate claiming an additional amount to add
to the employee’s wages is furnished;
(ii) The employee may request that the
employer deduct and withhold additional
amounts of income tax resulting from the
employee selecting higher withholding
rate tables on the withholding allowance
certificate;
(iii) The employer must comply with
the employee’s request under paragraph
(a)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section, except that
the employer shall comply with the em-
ployee’s request only to the extent that the
amount that the employee requests to be
deducted and withheld under this section
does not exceed the amount that remains
after the employer has deducted and with-
held all amounts otherwise required to
be deducted and withheld by Federal law
(other than by section 3402(i) and this sec-
tion), State law, and local law (other than
by State or local law that provides for vol-
untary withholding); and
(iv) The employer must comply with
the employee’s request in accordance with
the time limitations in §31.3402(f)(3)-1.
The employee must make the request on
Form W-4 as provided in §31.3402(f)(5)-
1 (relating to form and contents of with-
holding allowance certificates), and this
Form W-4 shall take effect and remain ef-
fective in accordance with section 3402(f)
and §31.3402(f)(4)-1.
(3) Amount deducted treated as tax.
The amount deducted and withheld pur-
suant to paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this
section shall be treated as tax required to
be deducted and withheld under section
3402.
(b) Applicability date. The provisions
of paragraph (a)(2) and (3) of this section
apply on and after [DATE OF PUBLICA-
TION OF FINAL REGULATIONS IN
THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. Under
section 7805(b)(7) a taxpayer may choose
to apply paragraphs (a)(2) and (3) of this
section on and after January 1, 2020.
Par. 18. Section 31.3402(l)-1 is revised
to read as follows:
§31.3402(l)-1 Determination and dis-
closure of marital or filing status.
(a) In general. An employer shall ap-
ply the applicable percentage method or
wage bracket method withholding tables
corresponding to the marital status or fil-
ing status that the employee selects on a
valid withholding allowance certificate
as set forth in forms, instructions, publi-
cations, and other guidance prescribed by
the Commissioner.
(b) Employee’s filing status. An em-
ployee will be treated as single unless
the employee selects head of household
or married filing jointly filing status on a
valid withholding allowance certificate.
Employees may select a filing status other
than single, subject to the following con-
ditions:
(1) The employee may select head of
household filing status on the employee’s
withholding allowance certificate only if
the employee reasonably expects to be
eligible to claim head of household filing

Bulletin No. 2020–10 487 March 2, 2020
status under section 2(b) and §1.2-2(b) of
this chapter on the employee’s income tax
return.
(2) The employee may select married
filing jointly filing status on the employ-
ee’s withholding allowance certificate
only if paragraph (d) of this section ap-
plies to the employee and the employee
reasonably expects to file jointly a single
return of income under Subtitle A with
the employee’s spouse. If an employee is
married and expects to file a separate re-
turn from the employee’s spouse, the em-
ployee must select single or married filing
separately filing status on the employee’s
withholding allowance certificate.
(c) Change in filing status—(1) In gen-
eral. Unless paragraph (c)(2) of this sec-
tion applies, the employee must within
10 days furnish the employer with a new
withholding allowance certificate if the
employee’s filing status changes—
(i) From married filing jointly (or qual-
ifying widow(er)) to head of household,
married filing separately, or single, or
(ii) From head of household to married
filing separately or single.
(2) Exception. If the employee’s filing
status changes in the manner described in
paragraph (c)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section,
but the total effect of the changes together
with other changes affecting the employ-
ee’s anticipated tax liability under Subtitle
A does not result in an amount of tax to be
deducted and withheld from the employ-
ee’s wages for the taxable year that is less
than the employee’s anticipated tax liabil-
ity under Subtitle A, the employee is not
required to furnish a new withholding al-
lowance certificate within 10 days. How-
ever, the employee must furnish a new
withholding allowance certificate to take
effect the following calendar year by the
later of December 1 of the calendar year in
which the employee’s filing status chang-
es, or within 10 days of such change.
(d) Determination of marital status.
For the purposes of section 3402(l)(2) and
paragraph (b) of this section, paragraphs
(d)(1) and (2) of this section shall be ap-
plied in determining whether an employee
is a single person or a married person:
(1) An employee shall on any day be
considered as a single person and not mar-
ried if—
(i) The employee is legally separated
from the employee’s spouse under a de-
cree of divorce or separate maintenance,
or
(ii) Either the employee or the em-
ployee’s spouse is, or on any preceding
day within the same calendar year was, a
nonresident alien unless the employee has
made or reasonably expects to make an
election under section 6013(g) in the time
and manner prescribed in §1.6013-6(a)(4)
of this chapter.
(2) An employee shall on any day be
considered as a married person if para-
graph (d)(1) of this section does not apply
and—
(i) The employee is married within the
meaning of §301.7701-18(b) of this chap-
ter on the day the withholding allowance
certificate is furnished;
(ii) The employee’s spouse died during
the employee’s taxable year; or
(iii) The employee’s spouse died during
one of the two taxable years immediately
preceding the current taxable year and, on
the basis of facts existing at the beginning
of such day, the employee reasonably ex-
pects, at the close of the taxable year, to
be a surviving spouse as defined in sec-
tion 2 and §1.2-2(a) of this chapter. The
employee must reasonably expect to file
an income tax return claiming qualifying
widow(er) status.
(e) Applicability date. The provisions
of this section apply on and after [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER]. For rules that apply before [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER], see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. Under section 7805(b)(7)
a taxpayer may choose to apply this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2020.
Par. 20. Section 31.3402(m)-1 is re-
vised to read as follows:
§31.3402(m)-1 Additional withholding
allowance.
(a) In general. In determining the
withholding allowance or additional re-
ductions in withholding under section
3402(m) on employee withholding al-
lowance certificates furnished to the em-
ployer to be effective on or after January
1, 2020, employees may take into account
the estimated tax deductions described in
paragraph (b) of this section, the estimated
tax credits described in paragraph (c) of
this section, and estimated tax payments
described in paragraph (d) of this section.
Employees may only claim items in para-
graphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section to
the extent provided in paragraph (e) of this
section.
(b) Estimated tax deductions. Employ-
ees may take into account the following
income tax deductions in chapter 1:
(1) Estimated itemized deductions (as
defined in section 63(d)) allowable under
chapter 1;
(2) Estimated deductions described in
section 62(a), except for—
(i) Any deduction described in section
62(a)(1);
(ii) Any deduction described in section
62(a)(2) if the reimbursement or payment
for the amount allowable as such deduc-
tion is excludable from wages subject to
income tax withholding;
(iii) Any deduction described in section
62(a)(3);
(iv) Any deduction described in section
62(a)(4); and
(v) Any deduction described in section
62(a)(5).
(3) Estimated deductions for net oper-
ating loss carryovers under section 172;
(4) The estimated aggregate net loss-
es from schedules C (Profit or Loss from
Business), D (Capital Gains and Losses),
E (Supplemental Income and Loss), and
F (Profit or Loss from Farming) of Form
1040 and from the last line of Part II of
Form 4797 (Sale of Business Property);
(5) Estimated additional standard de-
duction for the aged and blind provided
under section 63(c)(3) and section 63(f);
(6) Estimated deduction allowed under
section 199A; and
(7) Estimated deduction or deductions
allowed under section 151.
(c) Estimated tax credits. Employees
may take into account the estimated in-
come tax credits allowable under chapter
1, except for—
(1) The credit under section 31(a) for
taxes withheld under chapter 24 (which
includes taxes withheld on wages and
amounts treated as wages for chapter 24
purposes, such as pension withholding
under section 3405 and backup withhold-
ing under section 3406) unless, on the day
the employee estimates this amount, the
amount has been actually withheld from
the employee’s wages (or another pay-
ment treated as wages for this purpose),

March 2, 2020 488 Bulletin No. 2020–10
the employee enters this amount of tax
withheld pursuant to the instructions in
the Tax Withholding Estimator (or succes-
sor) or Publication 505 (or successor), and
the employee is not an employee whose
employer must withhold for that employ-
ee pursuant to a notice under §31.3402(f)
(2)-1(g)(2);
(2) The credit for tax withheld at source
for nonresident aliens and foreign corpo-
rations under section 33; and
(3) Any credit to the extent that the em-
ployee has filed or expects to file any IRS
form claiming such credit other than the
employee’s United States Individual In-
come Tax Return (Form 1040).
(d) Estimated tax payments. Employ-
ees may take into account estimated tax
payments paid to date only if—
(1) The employee’s employer is not
obligated to withhold on the employ-
ee’s wages pursuant to a notice under
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(g)(2);
(2) The amount claimed has been paid
with the payment voucher from Form
1040-ES (or was otherwise designated by
the taxpayer as a payment of estimated
tax); (3) The employee uses the Tax
Withholding Estimator (or successor) and
enters the amount claimed pursuant to the
instructions in the Tax Withholding Esti-
mator (or successor); and
(4) In using the Tax Withholding Esti-
mator (or successor product), the employ-
ee includes all items of nonwage income
the Tax Withholding Estimator (or suc-
cessor product) prompts the employee to
enter.
(e) Definitions and special rules—(1)
Estimated. The term ``estimated’’ as used
in this section to modify the terms “deduc-
tion,” “deductions,” “credits,” “losses,”
and “amount of decrease” means with re-
spect to an employee the aggregate dollar
amount of a particular item that the em-
ployee reasonably expects will be allow-
able to the employee on the employee’s
income tax return for the estimation year
under the section of the Code specified for
each item. In no event shall that amount
exceed the sum of:
(i) The amount shown for that particu-
lar item on the income tax return that the
employee has filed for the taxable year
preceding the estimation year (or, if such
return has not yet been filed, then the in-
come tax return that the employee filed
for the taxable year preceding such year),
which amount the employee also reason-
ably expects to show on the income tax
return for the estimation year, plus
(ii) The determinable additional
amounts (as defined in paragraph (e)(1)
(iii) of this section) for each item for the
estimation year.
(iii) The determinable additional
amounts are amounts that are not includ-
ed in paragraph (e)(1)(i) of this section
and that are demonstrably attributable to
identifiable events during the estimation
year or the preceding year. Amounts are
demonstrably attributable to identifiable
events if they relate to payments already
made during the estimation year, to bind-
ing obligations to make payments (includ-
ing the payment of taxes) during the year,
and to other transactions or occurrences,
the implementation of which has begun
and is verifiable at the time the employee
furnishes a withholding allowance certif-
icate. The estimation year is the taxable
year including the day on which the em-
ployee furnishes the withholding allow-
ance certificate to the employer, except
that if the employee furnishes the with-
holding allowance certificate to the em-
ployer and specifies on the certificate that
the certificate is not to take effect until a
specified future date, the estimation year
shall be the taxable year including that
specified future date. It is not reasonable
for an employee to include in his or her
withholding computation for the estima-
tion year any amount that is shown for a
particular item on the income tax return
that the employee has filed for the taxable
year preceding the estimation year (or, if
such return has not yet been filed, then
the income tax return that the employee
filed for the taxable year preceding such
year) and that has been disallowed by the
Service as part of an adjustment described
in §601.103(b) of this chapter (relating
to examination and determination of tax
liability) and §601.105(b) through (d) of
this chapter (relating to examination of
returns), without regard to any pending re-
quest for reconsideration, protest, request
for consideration by an Appeals office, or
civil action in which such proposed ad-
justment is at issue.
(2) Restriction for employees with non-
wage income. The employee must offset
any deduction described in paragraph (b)
of this section with items includible in
the employee’s gross income for which
no Federal income tax is withheld in ac-
cordance with forms, instructions, pub-
lications, and other guidance prescribed
by the Commissioner. In addition, an em-
ployee whose employer must withhold for
that employee pursuant to a notice under
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(g)(2) must offset any
tax benefit resulting from any deduction
or credit described in paragraph (b) or (c)
of this section with the anticipated income
tax attributable to items other than wages
includible in the employee’s gross income
in the manner determined by the Commis-
sioner.
(3) Multiple withholding allowance
certificates—(i) In general. The employ-
ee may not take into account deductions,
credits, or estimated tax payments de-
scribed in paragraph (b), (c), or (d) of this
section if these deductions, credits, or esti-
mated tax payments are claimed on anoth-
er valid withholding allowance certificate
in effect with respect to another employer
of the employee or any employer of the
employee’s spouse.
(ii) Married taxpayers filing jointly.
Married taxpayers who reasonably ex-
pect to file as married filing jointly on
their federal income tax return for the
estimation year determine the withhold-
ing allowance to which they are entitled
under section 3402(m) on the basis of
their combined wages, allowable cred-
its or deductions, and estimated tax pay-
ments permitted to be taken into account.
The deductions, credits, or estimated tax
payments described in paragraphs (b),
(c), and (d) of this section to which either
spouse is entitled may be claimed by ei-
ther spouse or may be allocated between
both spouses. However, one spouse may
not claim deductions, credits, or estimat-
ed tax payments described in paragraphs
(b), (c), and (d) of this section claimed on
the other spouse’s withholding allowance
certificate.
(iii) Married taxpayers filing separate-
ly. A married taxpayer who reasonably ex-
pects to file a separate income tax return
from the employee’s spouse for the esti-
mation year determines the withholding
allowance deductions, credits, or estimat-
ed tax payments described in paragraphs
(b), (c), and (d) of this section on the basis
of the employee’s individual wages, de-

Bulletin No. 2020–10 489 March 2, 2020
ductions, credits, and estimated tax pay-
ments.
(4) IRS instructions. An employee must
follow the instructions to the Form W-4,
and other IRS forms, instructions, publi-
cations, and related guidance in determin-
ing the employee’s withholding allowance
or other reductions in withholding per-
mitted under section 3402(m) for deduc-
tions, credits, or estimated tax payments
described in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of
this section.
(f) Applicability date. The provisions
of this section apply on or after [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER]. For rules that apply before [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGU-
LATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER], see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. Under section 7805(b)(7)
a taxpayer may choose to apply this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2020.
Par. 21. Section 31.3402(n)-1 is revised
to read as follows:
§31.3402(n)-1 Employees incurring no
income tax liability.
(a) In general. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this subpart (except to
the extent a payment of wages is subject
to withholding under §31.3402(g)-1(a)
(2)), an employer shall not deduct and
withhold any tax under chapter 24 upon a
payment of wages made to an employee,
if there is in effect with respect to the pay-
ment a withholding allowance certificate
furnished to the employer by the employ-
ee which certifies that—
(1) The employee incurred no liability
for income tax imposed under subtitle A
of the Internal Revenue Code for the em-
ployee’s preceding taxable year; and
(2) The employee anticipates that the
employee will incur no liability for in-
come tax imposed under subtitle A for the
employee’s current taxable year.
(b) Mandatory flat rate withholding. To
the extent wages are subject to income tax
withholding under §31.3402(g)-1(a)(2),
such wages are subject to such income
tax withholding regardless of whether a
withholding allowance certificate under
section 3402(n) and this section has been
furnished to the employer.
(c) Liability for income tax. For pur-
poses of section 3402(n) and this section,
an employee is not considered to incur li-
ability for income tax imposed under sub-
title A if the amount of such tax imposed
is equal to or less than the total amount of
credits against such tax which are allow-
able under chapter 1 of the Internal Reve-
nue Code, other than those credits allow-
able under section 31 or 34. For purposes
of this section, an employee who files a
joint return under section 6013 is consid-
ered to incur liability for any tax shown
on such return. An employee who is en-
titled to file a joint return under section
6013 shall not certify that the employee
anticipates that he or she will incur no li-
ability for income tax imposed by subtitle
A for the employee’s current taxable year
if such statement would not be true in the
event that the employee files a joint return
for such year, unless the employee filed a
separate return for the preceding taxable
year and anticipates that the employee
will file a separate return for the current
taxable year.
(d) Rules about withholding allowance
certificates. For rules relating to invalid
withholding allowance certificates, see
§31.3402(f)(2)-1(h), and for rules relating
to disregarding certain withholding allow-
ance certificates on which an employee
claims a complete exemption from with-
holding, see §31.3402(f)(2)-1(i).
(e) Examples. The following examples
illustrate this section:
(1) Example 1. A, an unmarried, calendar-year
basis taxpayer, files an income tax return for 2020
on April 10, 2021, showing that A had adjusted gross
income of $5,000 and is not liable for any income tax
for 2020. A had $180 of income tax withheld during
2020. A anticipates that A’s gross income for 2021
will be approximately the same amount, and that
A will not incur income tax liability for that year.
On April 20, 2021, A commences employment and
furnishes the employer a withholding allowance
certificate certifying that A incurred no liability for
income tax imposed under subtitle A for 2020, and
that A anticipates that A will incur no liability for
income tax imposed under subtitle A for 2021. A’s
employer shall not deduct and withhold on payments
of wages made to A on or after April 20, 2021. Un-
der §31.3402(f)(4)-1(b), unless A furnishes a new
withholding allowance certificate including the certi-
fications described in paragraph (a) of this section to
the employer, the employer is required to deduct and
withhold upon payments of wages to A made after
February 15, 2022.
(2) Example 2. Assume the facts are the same
as in Example 1 in paragraph (e)(1) of this section
except that A had been employed by the employer
prior to April 20, 2021, and had furnished the em-
ployer a withholding allowance certificate prior to
furnishing the withholding allowance certificate in-
cluding the certifications described in paragraph (a)
of this section on April 20, 2021. Under §31.3402(f)
(3)-1(b), the employer would be required to give ef-
fect to the new withholding allowance certificate no
later than the beginning of the first payroll period
ending (or the first payment of wages made with-
out regard to a payroll period) on or after May 20,
2021. However, under §31.3402(f)(3)-1(b), the em-
ployer could, if it chose, make the new withhold-
ing allowance certificate effective with respect to
any payment of wages made on or after April 20,
2021, and before the effective date mandated by
section 3402(f)(3)(B)(i) and §31.3402(f)(3)-1(b).
Under §31.3402(f)(4)-1(b), unless A furnishes a
new withholding allowance certificate including the
certifications described in §31.3402(n)-1(a) to A’s
employer, the employer is required to deduct and
withhold upon payments of wages to A made after
February 15, 2022.
(3) Example 3. Assume the facts are the same as
in Example 1 in paragraph (e)(1) of this section ex-
cept that for 2020 A has taxable income of $8,000,
income tax liability of $839, and income tax with-
held of $1,195. Although A received a refund of $356
due to income tax withholding of $1,195, A may not
certify on A’s withholding allowance certificate that
A incurred no liability for income tax imposed by
subtitle A for 2020.
(f) Applicability date. The provisions
of this section apply on and after [DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF FINAL REG-
ULATIONS IN THE FEDERAL REG-
ISTER].
For rules that apply before [DATE OF
PUBLICATION OF FINAL REGULA-
TIONS IN THE FEDERAL REGIS-
TER], see 26 CFR part 31, revised as of
March 14, 2019. Under section 7805(b)(7)
a taxpayer may choose to apply this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2020.
Sunita Lough
Deputy Commissioner for Services
and Enforcement.
(Filed by the Office of the Federal Register on Feb-
ruary 11, 2020, 4:15 p.m., and published in the issue
of the Federal Register for February 13, 2020, 85 FR
8344)

Bulletin No. 2020–10 i March 2, 2020
Definition of Terms
Revenue rulings and revenue procedures
(hereinafter referred to as “rulings”) that
have an effect on previous rulings use the
following defined terms to describe the
effect:
Amplified describes a situation where
no change is being made in a prior pub-
lished position, but the prior position is
being extended to apply to a variation of
the fact situation set forth therein. Thus, if
an earlier ruling held that a principle ap-
plied to A, and the new ruling holds that
the same principle also applies to B, the
earlier ruling is amplified. (Compare with
modified, below).
Clarified is used in those instances
where the language in a prior ruling is be-
ing made clear because the language has
caused, or may cause, some confusion. It
is not used where a position in a prior rul-
ing is being changed.
Distinguished describes a situation
where a ruling mentions a previously pub-
lished ruling and points out an essential
difference between them.
Modified is used where the substance
of a previously published position is being
changed. Thus, if a prior ruling held that a
principle applied to A but not to B, and the
new ruling holds that it applies to both A
and B, the prior ruling is modified because
it corrects a published position. (Compare
with amplified and clarified, above).
Obsoleted describes a previously pub-
lished ruling that is not considered deter-
minative with respect to future transactions.
This term is most commonly used in a ruling
that lists previously published rulings that
are obsoleted because of changes in laws or
regulations. A ruling may also be obsoleted
because the substance has been included in
regulations subsequently adopted.
Revoked describes situations where the
position in the previously published ruling
is not correct and the correct position is
being stated in a new ruling.
Superseded describes a situation where
the new ruling does nothing more than
restate the substance and situation of a
previously published ruling (or rulings).
Thus, the term is used to republish under
the 1986 Code and regulations the same
position published under the 1939 Code
and regulations. The term is also used
when it is desired to republish in a single
ruling a series of situations, names, etc.,
that were previously published over a
period of time in separate rulings. If the
new ruling does more than restate the sub-
stance of a prior ruling, a combination of
terms is used. For example, modified and
superseded describes a situation where the
substance of a previously published ruling
is being changed in part and is continued
without change in part and it is desired to
restate the valid portion of the previous-
ly published ruling in a new ruling that is
self contained. In this case, the previously
published ruling is first modified and then,
as modified, is superseded.
Supplemented is used in situations in
which a list, such as a list of the names of
countries, is published in a ruling and that
list is expanded by adding further names
in subsequent rulings. After the original
ruling has been supplemented several
times, a new ruling may be published that
includes the list in the original ruling and
the additions, and supersedes all prior rul-
ings in the series.
Suspended is used in rare situations to
show that the previous published rulings
will not be applied pending some future
action such as the issuance of new or
amended regulations, the outcome of cas-
es in litigation, or the outcome of a Ser-
vice study.
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations in current use
and formerly used will appear in material
published in the Bulletin.
A—Individual.
Acq.—Acquiescence.
B—Individual.
BE—Beneficiary.
BK—Bank.
B.T.A.—Board of Tax Appeals.
C—Individual.
C.B.—Cumulative Bulletin.
CFR—Code of Federal Regulations.
CI—City.
COOP—Cooperative.
Ct.D.—Court Decision.
CY—County.
D—Decedent.
DC—Dummy Corporation.
DE—Donee.
Del. Order—Delegation Order.
DISC—Domestic International Sales Corporation.
DR—Donor.
E—Estate.
EE—Employee.
E.O.—Executive Order.
ER—Employer.
ERISA—Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
EX—Executor.
F—Fiduciary.
FC—Foreign Country.
FICA—Federal Insurance Contributions Act.
FISC—Foreign International Sales Company.
FPH—Foreign Personal Holding Company.
F.R.—Federal Register.
FUTA—Federal Unemployment Tax Act.
FX—Foreign corporation.
G.C.M.—Chief Counsel’s Memorandum.
GE—Grantee.
GP—General Partner.
GR—Grantor.
IC—Insurance Company.
I.R.B.—Internal Revenue Bulletin.
LE—Lessee.
LP—Limited Partner.
LR—Lessor.
M—Minor.
Nonacq.—Nonacquiescence.
O—Organization.
P—Parent Corporation.
PHC—Personal Holding Company.
PO—Possession of the U.S.
PR—Partner.
PRS—Partnership.
PTE—Prohibited Transaction Exemption.
Pub. L.—Public Law.
REIT—Real Estate Investment Trust.
Rev. Proc.—Revenue Procedure.
Rev. Rul.—Revenue Ruling.
S—Subsidiary.
S.P.R.—Statement of Procedural Rules.
Stat.—Statutes at Large.
T—Target Corporation.
T.C.—Tax Court.
T.D.—Treasury Decision.
TFE—Transferee.
TFR—Transferor.
T.I.R.—Technical Information Release.
TP—Taxpayer.
TR—Trust.
TT—Trustee.
U.S.C.—United States Code.
X—Corporation.
Y—Corporation.
Z—Corporation.

March 2, 2020 ii Bulletin No. 2020–10
Numerical Finding List
1
Bulletin 2020–10
Announcements:
2020-1, 2020-5 I.R.B. 552
Notices:
2020-1, 2020-2 I.R.B. 290
2020-2, 2020-3 I.R.B. 327
2020-3, 2020-3 I.R.B. 330
2020-4, 2020-4 I.R.B. 380
2020-5, 2020-4 I.R.B. 380
2020-6, 2020-7 I.R.B. 411
2020-7, 2020-7 I.R.B. 411
2020-8, 2020-7 I.R.B. 415
2020-9, 2020-7 I.R.B. 417
2020-10, 2020-10 I.R.B. 456
Proposed Regulations:
REG-107431-19, 2020-3 I.R.B. 332
REG-122180-18, 2020-3 I.R.B. 342
REG-100956-19, 2020-4 I.R.B. 383
REG-125710-18, 2020-5 I.R.B. 554
REG-132741-17, 2020-10 I.R.B. 458
Revenue Procedures:
2020-1, 2020-01 I.R.B. 1
2020-2, 2020-01 I.R.B. 107
2020-3, 2020-01 I.R.B. 131
2020-4, 2020-01 I.R.B. 148
2020-5, 2020-01 I.R.B. 241
2020-7, 2020-01 I.R.B. 281
2020-9, 2020-02 I.R.B. 294
2020-10, 2020-02 I.R.B. 295
2020-11, 2020-06 I.R.B. 406
2020-8, 2020-08 I.R.B. 447
Revenue Rulings:
2020-1, 2020-3 I.R.B. 296
2020-2, 2020-3 I.R.B. 298
2020-3, 2020-3 I.R.B. 409
2020-4, 2020-4 I.R.B. 444
2020-5, 2020-5 I.R.B. 454
Treasury Decisions:
9886, 2020-2 I.R.B. 285
9887, 2020-3 I.R.B. 302
9888, 2020-3 I.R.B. 306
9891, 2020-8 I.R.B. 419
9892, 2020-8 I.R.B. 439
9893, 2020-9 I.R.B. 449
1
A cumulative list of all revenue rulings, revenue procedures, Treasury decisions, etc., published in Internal Revenue Bulletins 2018–27 through 2018–52 is in Internal Revenue Bulletin
2018–52, dated December 27, 2018.

Bulletin No. 2020–10 iii March 2, 2020
Finding List of Current Actions on
Previously Published Items
1
Bulletin 2020–10
1
A cumulative list of all revenue rulings, revenue procedures, Treasury decisions, etc., published in Internal Revenue Bulletins 2018–27 through 2018–52 is in Internal Revenue Bulletin
2018–52, dated December 27, 2018.

Internal Revenue Service
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Official Business
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