State releases Idaho-specific W-4

The Idaho Tax Commission has revealed a new W-4 form. It’s designed to help taxpayers more easily calculate how much state income tax should be withheld from their paychecks.

The form will be mailed out to more than 70,000 Idaho employers. It is already available on the Tax Commission website.

The commission hopes it will help people who haven’t already updated their withholding to do so for 2019.

“The new Form ID W-4 gives us an important new tool for helping Idaho taxpayers properly calculate how much of each paycheck should be withheld to cover their Idaho individual income tax liability,” Tax Commission Chairman Ken Roberts said.

The commission advises that the state and federal tax systems are now quite different and federal withholding information is no longer applicable.

“While the federal W-4 form is still needed for calculating federal withholding, the Idaho W-4 is a shorter, simpler and far more accurate way of determining your Idaho withholding,” Roberts said. “We hope it encourages more taxpayers to update their W-4 and avoid unexpected tax bills.”