Expert: Arthur Naman - 4/11/2009

Question
he has on his paycheck marital status for feeral S and for state M and we are still married getting divorced.he has this since february 2009

thanks
renate

Answer
The filing status claimed for purposes of calculating payroll withholding can be set to be any amount as long as the "correct amount" of withholding is taken out. By "correct amount" I mean the amount necessary to pay in so that not too much is owed when filing an annual income tax return, form 1040.

A Single status generally causes more to be withheld than a similar Married filing status. A married person might, for example, claim single if that person has other income such as from interest, dividends, or a "side" job.

I do not believe the filing status claimed on the W-4 for withholding on a paycheck means anything other than having the correct amount withheld. If you are still concerned about this from a legal point as you said you are getting divorced, I would recommend discussing this with an attorney which I am not.

If you still have additional questions about this, please ask a follow-up question.