The Internal Revenue Service last week posted to its website new tables for
employers to use in figuring how much federal income tax to withhold from workers'
wages.
The tables contain the percentage method formulas used by payroll programmers.
The IRS expects to mail printed copies of Publication 15-T, containing all the
tables, to employers nationwide by the third week of June.
The tables reflect changes made by a new law reducing taxes, which President
Bush signed last week. Employers are requested to use the new tables as soon
as they can work them into their payroll systems. Barring unusual circumstances,
they should implement them not later than July 1, 2003, according to the IRS.
The tables incorporate tax rate changes for most taxpayers and the higher standard
deduction for married couples.
The new law extended the 10 percent rate to cover the first $7,000 of taxable
income for single persons, $14,000 for married couples. It also lowered the
tax rates above 15 percent to 25, 28, 33 and 35 percent. This is a drop of two
percentage points for each rate except the top one, which went down 3.6 points.
The new law also raised the standard deduction for married couples to $9,500
and extended their 15 percent tax rate to $56,800 of taxable income. Each figure
is double the number for single taxpayers. The changes reduce the difference
between the tax couples pay and the amount they would have paid as two single
persons.
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