Employer Deducting Too Much from Payroll Check

I also live in CT, and, in case you were not aware, starting in Aug employers were to deduct additional taxes to cover a retrospective increase in income tax for this year, that would explain the increase in deduction.

Ummmm, I work in HR and assist with payroll.
What you claim on your W-4 is what your deductions should be and that cannot be changed, legally, unless you complete a new W-4 changing your deductions, claiming status, etc.
Before I had kids, I was making so much money that the bookkeeper at work talked to me about changing my filing status so that I wouldn't end up owing. I was single with no dependants. So, I began having more taken out of my check at a time by signing a new W-4.

If a person is a "salaried" employee, their pay should not fluctuate unless there is something in writing changing that status.
Even salaried employees MUST be given a pay stub showing the gross pay and the net pay after withholdings, etc.

You definitely need to contact the Department of Labor and follow through with this.
As an employer, you can't just willy-nilly deduct things, or not, and not give the employee an accounting.
Even if the $21 difference is due to some type of percentage for commissions above and beyond salary, the employee has to be given a stub at the time of payment.

In the meantime, I think your husband should be looking for another job because if his employer gets shut down or has so many fines he can't make payroll, you better have Plan B.
Your husband overpaying in taxes will work out when you file for your return if it's been confirmed by the IRS too much is being deducted.
My main concern would be that you have no way of tracking it without pay stubs.

It's worth the hassle.
If an employer won't give you payroll information, that's a huge red flag.

You definitely need to get this worked out. If your husband isn't getting payroll stubs, his employer can make up whatever numbers he wants and your husband has no way of proving it is incorrect. You also need current year to date info. Does your company have an HR department that you could contact? How long has your husband worked for this company? If longer than a year, was last year's W2 correct? Good luck!

Well here are my thoughts as a former HR manager...
1. Why isnt he getting a stub? Is it a small company? Can he request one?
2. Why dont you start by having him fill out a new W4 and state tax form (possibly have your tax accountant review it)
3. As a last resort you could call the DOL but i would guess that could get his employer in trouble and that could affect him.
4. I am not a payroll person but i have seen them try to help employees but i cant say for sure what his boss is up to.

It IS worth that much aggravation, because if you are not getting payroll stubs, how do you know that money is truly going to the IRS (and will thus be refunded to your hubby at tax-time)?? Definitely go to the DOL - there are laws out there that require the employer to do certain things, and I know my employer will not, under any circumstances, amend our withholding without a signed form. If they were audited, I believe they would have to show these forms to the IRS. For as awesome as our company is, the head of the HR dept was a little green and there was an issue a couple years back - we called the DOL and they gave us an immediate answer and asked if we wanted to open a complaint - they will investigate for you. We advised our HR department of the proper way to handle the situation (re our paychecks), and they checked for themselves but found we were correct and within 24 hours they resolved the situation without getting the DOL involved any further.

I agree with Shane! I highly suggest that you contact the Department of Labor. What your husband's employer is doing is not only unethical but also against the law.

You should also be able to contact the Department of Revenue and request a copy of their tax booklet. Each state and the federal government has a table for the amount of taxes that should be taken out for each amount a person is paid. You could also probably contact an accountant. They should be able to tell you the amounts you are questioning. As a person that figures payroll for a VERY SMALL company, it is not difficult. A little confusing but not difficult. If a person finds it too difficult there are companies and programs that can do it for them.

It is worth the aggrevation! If you don't deal with the aggrevation now it could be much worse later. Later you won't have proof of anything that has been deducted or paid. This will not only cause problems now when you do your taxes but also later in life when you want to collect SS. It may even cause problems if for some reason your husband has to claim workmans comp.

I also agree with the person that suggested that your husband start looking for another job. There are LARGE penalties for companies that don't follow the rules. I hope that your husbands employer will get things corrected. It is NOT his job to protect you! It is his job to protect himself!

I hope you get some answers that will help.

I had a similar situation which was resolved by going to Labor Law Compliance. My boss was not paying me for 29 hours of mandatory training, weekly mandatory employee meetings and supervision. I got most of the money back. His company got audited which resulted in him having to pay back $35k...not to me though...lol.

Yes it is worth the aggravation.

How do you even know that the man is paying these taxes to the government?

I would think that his loosey-goosey practices are also in force somewhere else. If he cannot and will not produce the standard forms, then what must his books be like? That's no way to run a business.

Your husband may be reluctant to confront him if this might mean a retaliatory firing, but I'd tell him to go back to the boss and say, "The IRS confirms that I've had too much overdrawn. I cannot afford to lose an additional $21 per check and would like that changed back the way it was" or changed to x per calculations. If the IRS can tell you that you are overdrawn, they can also tell you how much you owe til the end of the year. If the boss is not compliant, then report him.

Even if there was a reason to increase deductions, the boss should have told him. Not following any guidelines other than his own is not right when it comes to being accountable.

I also agree about the stub. Never have I been a salaried employee without a pay stub, even when it was all electronic. I knew what taxes were paid, what deductions were taken out for medical, etc. Your DH absolutely should know where his money is going.

I also agree that regardless your husband may be better off looking for different employment. If this guy is shady on the payroll, what else is he shady on?

You should definitely contact the DOL. What he is doing is illegal.

I would call the state labor board and see what they say. They are the final say as to what happens at this point. The IRS only deal with what they are given. He has to have something that will show how much is state and how much is federal, etc....so when you file taxes at the end of the year they are correct.

OH HECK YES IT IS WORTH THAT MUCH AGGRAVATION. Where does he work? I'm not far from you and my son goes to TEMS in Meriden. This state is too expensive and we need every penny we can get to stay afloat. Call the DOL and be persistent. If it was my husband he would be having a fit and a half. We have Wallingford Electric which is much less that CL&P and we are struggling to pay our bills so I don't know how those with CL&P or UI are doing it and paying their other bills too. We work hard for our money, we deserve to get what is owed to us and pay stubs too. Ken has to get his off the computer but he gets one every week.

Well all employers are required to have you fill W-4 and regardless of what they think, they are only allowed to withhold what the tax table states for your filling status plus whatever extra you have indicated on the w-4. Any changes need to be filled out via anew W-4 (which you can find on the internet but the employer should have them).

I have never heard of an employer not giving some kind of pay stub. I did have one employer where we had to print it ourselves from the website but it was available to us.

Your husband should go to his employer (payroll department if there is one) and request copies of his pay stubs. He should request to either see his w-4 (to confirm what he previously filled out) or fill out a new one. The EASIEST thing would be to fill out a new w-4 and take out less than necessary for the rest of the year. Then later, update again for what it should be. You can change w-4s as often as you want. The correct thing to do is have payroll department recalculate his payroll correctly and correct the situation.

If they will not comply with either of these options, then you should pursue as necessary.

On the upside, he's taking out more not less so you should get it back when you file your taxes.

If he is not getting a stub, how do you know how much is being withheld? Just curious! But, agree w/the ladies here - get on it now!

And you can get copies of Fed and state tax tables by going to their websites.

Oh - just thought - what if this company gets shutdown for this kind of stuff and it is a little bit of time before your hubby can find another job?? Just wondering IF this fella is paying into unemployment!!??? That could get real interesting....

I find this all so very funny. Privately held or small businesses do not have the same regulations as corporations. My ex works for his father's business and lord the withholding drove me nuts!!! Of course we got pay stubs mind you but when you get $14,000 back from the government something has gone horribly wrong!! No I did not put the comma in the wrong place.

Here is the rub, it isn't against the law. They are not required to have an accounting firm, they are not required to have a payroll company.

The easiest solution is to calculate how much has been withheld and see what still needs to be withheld. You must withhold at least your tax liability from the previous year. So say you paid 1,000 in taxes last year, paid, not withheld, you must withhold at least 1,000 this year to avoid penalties.

Once you have calculated how much is still needed divide it by the pay periods left and tell him to withhold only that. Utopia would be to withhold your actual liability this year mind you cause it really sucks to have to pay big bucks in April.

When you speak to his employer you may want to mention there are inexpensive programs that will produce accurate pay stubs, automatically apply the tax tables and all that fun stuff. It would actually save him money because the program does all the work for him.

Oh and it is not against any laws to alter and change your withholding from the tax tables. Just an FYI.

Meh, at least in my case I did manage to get my ex's aunt, yeah his aunt did the payroll, to not withhold anything for November and December. Obviously not withholding only applied to state and federal, payroll taxes must always be taken out. It was kinda nice to have that much extra to go Christmas shopping with, ya know?

Ya know the poor guy has to be confused as hell right now. I do payroll and every pay period our payroll company is sending us advisories. Hell nothing is staying the same!