GA 30% income tax withholding increase?

[The Sound Guy]

Dang! Balanced the checkbook and noticed that the deposit from my paycheck had dropped quite a bit. Pulled up the check stubs and low and behold, the entire amount is due to the GA withholding going up nearly 30% for the same Exemptions. WTH?

 

I asked our company payroll about it to see if it's an error and they say that they believe that the income tax for GA changed this year in some way to cause it and the payroll company is just applying it as it should. Ah, Gee Thanks, you are so helpful... NOT. So I ask who to contact at the payroll company and am told they won't talk to employees. Great.

 

Anybody else have their state withholding jump up? We use ADP for payroll.

 

SG

[rednekkhikkchikk]

Nope. Only chg was the FICA re-setting to previous % on mine so far...

[glassdogs]

I didn't know Governor Moonbeam had moved from Sacramento to Atlanta...

[The Sound Guy]

Well, payroll says that GA law changed this April 1st to cause it, they are trying to get details. If it raises everyone's taxes by 30% I'm amazed we didn't hear about it in the news.

[Mama Carol]

Pretty sure state withholding did not go up to 36%.

 

The paychecks I generated for April for my clients were no different than the ones I generated for March. The withholding tax has remained the same.

 

I'd ask the payroll department to check into this. Something is bad wrong here. If your payroll department isn't any more help than they already have been, call ADP again. Tell them your payroll department has not been any help and you would prefer talking to them before talking to the state Department of Revenue.

[mei lan]

I'd ask the payroll department to check into this. Something is bad wrong here. If your payroll department isn't any more help than they already have been, call ADP again. Tell them your payroll department has not been any help and you would prefer talking to them before talking to the state Department of Revenue.

 

Excellent advice. I wouldn't let this go.

[DallasRed]

30% WOW if that is true I will be counting the days we can leave GA and move to FL.....MD is toooo tax crazy as it is, I was hoping it wouldn't be so bad in GA.

[CitizenCain]

It's because I retired this year and started collecting S.S. Sorry dude, cheers !

[The Sound Guy]

OK, was able to figure out most of it. It's partly because the State of Georgia can't make a tax guide that is simply written and easy to understand and partly because someone at ADP didn't read the footnote at the bottom of Table E before changing all their payroll tables.

 

So ADP has decided if you claim more than three allowances, because other deductions reduce your taxes, you are only allowed one deduction worth on your paycheck.

 

Dang. Just Dang.

 

The joys of outsourcing your payroll. They company just paid for two hours of my rather expensive (relatively) time to figure out a mistake that the payroll people we *also* paid made.

 

Gotta love it.

[glassdogs]

OK, was able to figure out most of it. It's partly because the State of Georgia can't make a tax guide that is simply written and easy to understand and partly because someone at ADP didn't read the footnote at the bottom of Table E before changing all their payroll tables.

 

So ADP has decided if you claim more than three allowances, because other deductions reduce your taxes, you are only allowed one deduction worth on your paycheck.

 

Dang. Just Dang.

 

The joys of outsourcing your payroll. They company just paid for two hours of my rather expensive (relatively) time to figure out a mistake that the payroll people we *also* paid made.

 

Gotta love it.

 

I believe I'd be asking ADP how they plan on paying me interest on MY money that they are diverting to the State.

[Mama Carol]

WTF? It's not up to ADP to determine what you're entitled to claim!

 

Maybe it's because I've done payroll for more years than I care to remember, but Georgia does a pretty good job of making an easy to understand withholding tax guide. They modeled it after the IRS withholding tax guide. Besides, your company's payroll department should know what is what and ADP should know what is what. And why did ADP "magically" decide this on April 1? Tax withholding guide for Georgia hasn't changed in several years.

OK, was able to figure out most of it. It's partly because the State of Georgia can't make a tax guide that is simply written and easy to understand and partly because someone at ADP didn't read the footnote at the bottom of Table E before changing all their payroll tables.

 

So ADP has decided if you claim more than three allowances, because other deductions reduce your taxes, you are only allowed one deduction worth on your paycheck.

 

Dang. Just Dang.

 

The joys of outsourcing your payroll. They company just paid for two hours of my rather expensive (relatively) time to figure out a mistake that the payroll people we *also* paid made.

 

Gotta love it.

 

Actually, any money deducted by ADP likely would not be submitted to the State of Georgia until after May 1.

 

SG, I would ask them (or your payroll department) to reimburse me for what they mistakenly withheld. And in all reality, I'd ask ADP since THEY made the mistake.

I believe I'd be asking ADP how they plan on paying me interest on MY money that they are diverting to the State.

[its mr sarcastic to you]

ADP does our payroll and nothing has changed, our last payroll was today....

[The Sound Guy]

WTF? It's not up to ADP to determine what you're entitled to claim!

 

Maybe it's because I've done payroll for more years than I care to remember, but Georgia does a pretty good job of making an easy to understand withholding tax guide. They modeled it after the IRS withholding tax guide. Besides, your company's payroll department should know what is what and ADP should know what is what. And why did ADP "magically" decide this on April 1? Tax withholding guide for Georgia hasn't changed in several years.

 

What they did was look at step 3 of the "Percentage Method for Employee Withholding" in the GA Employer's Tax guide - Revised November 2012. (I guess it took them 4 months to read it.)

 

Use these instructions to calculate employee withholding using the percentage method.

(1) Subtract the applicable standard deduction as indicated in column (1) - (3) of Table E.

(2) Subtract from the amount arrived at in (1) the appropriate amount of personal allowance as set

out in column (4) – (6) of Table E.

(3) If employees claim dependents other than themselves and/or their spouses, subtract from the

amount arrived at in (2) the appropriate amount of dependent allowance as set out in column (7) of Table E.

 

Instruction 3 seems to indicate that you only get one of the Dependent Allowance in Column 7.

 

HOWEVER if you look in the Notes for Table E at the bottom of the table, it plainly says:

 

The amounts in column (7) are for each dependent allowance claimed.

(my bold)

 

But whoever read it at ADP and wrote the letter to our company didn't bother to read that and changed the tables to be a max of your two exemptions and a single allowance. <sigh> They just decided on March 27th this was a problem, that is why the April checks were the first that had the change. Because of other deductions, I claim 9 allowances, so I lost 8 of them when this hit, thus, a 30% jump in withholding.

 

Actually, any money deducted by ADP likely would not be submitted to the State of Georgia until after May 1.

 

SG, I would ask them (or your payroll department) to reimburse me for what they mistakenly withheld. And in all reality, I'd ask ADP since THEY made the mistake.

 

If they fix it quick, I won't bother, I will get it back when I file next year, but like someone mentioned earlier, it's going to be a loan to Ga at no interest until next year and I'm losing the use of that money until then.

 

I just can't believe that everyone else in my company that this hit just accepted that it was legit. Payroll just acted like they couldn't believe I would think that ADP could make a mistake.

 

Of course, I've pointed out the error, but they haven't agreed that it's a problem or fixed it yet. If this goes on more than another check, I'm going to be raising hell with a LOT of people and doing it while the company is paying me. I'll be danged if I'm going to fix their payroll operator's mistake on MY time. And then when they finally agree to fix it, mention that I want all that money back now.

 

You know, I have better things to spend my time on. Dang.

[Mama Carol]

They must have some educated idiot at ADP.

 

Or maybe they have the people who did the payroll course I took. I pointed out an error to them (verified by three other accountants with a combined 70+ years of payroll & tax experience that what they had was incorrect) and they still told me I was wrong. I even showed them in the IRS Pub 15 (I think that's the payroll one, really can't remember the numbers for them) what was correct. They simply told me that I, along with the other accountants AND the IRS were wrong.

What they did was look at step 3 of the "Percentage Method for Employee Withholding" in the GA Employer's Tax guide - Revised November 2012. (I guess it took them 4 months to read it.)

 

 

 

Instruction 3 seems to indicate that you only get one of the Dependent Allowance in Column 7.

 

HOWEVER if you look in the Notes for Table E at the bottom of the table, it plainly says:

 

(my bold)

 

But whoever read it at ADP and wrote the letter to our company didn't bother to read that and changed the tables to be a max of your two exemptions and a single allowance. They just decided on March 27th this was a problem, that is why the April checks were the first that had the change. Because of other deductions, I claim 9 allowances, so I lost 8 of them when this hit, thus, a 30% jump in withholding.

 

 

 

If they fix it quick, I won't bother, I will get it back when I file next year, but like someone mentioned earlier, it's going to be a loan to Ga at no interest until next year and I'm losing the use of that money until then.

 

I just can't believe that everyone else in my company that this hit just accepted that it was legit. Payroll just acted like they couldn't believe I would think that ADP could make a mistake.

 

Of course, I've pointed out the error, but they haven't agreed that it's a problem or fixed it yet. If this goes on more than another check, I'm going to be raising hell with a LOT of people and doing it while the company is paying me. I'll be danged if I'm going to fix their payroll operator's mistake on MY time. And then when they finally agree to fix it, mention that I want all that money back now.

 

You know, I have better things to spend my time on. Dang.