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Exemption

Exemption From Federal and State Withholding

Federal

Any employee who qualifies and wishes to take advantage of exempt status from federal withholding must complete a new Form W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate) before February 15 of that year.

To qualify for exemption from federal withholding, an employee must meet all the following criteria:

  1. Must have had no Federal income tax liability last year, AND
  2. Must expect to have no Federal income tax liability this year.

State of Michigan

You may claim exemption from Michigan income tax withholding if all the following conditions are met:

  1. Your employment is intermittent, temporary, or less than full time.
  2. Your personal and dependency exemptions exceed your annual taxable compensation.
  3. You claimed exemption from federal withholding; AND
  4. You did not incur a Michigan income tax liability for the previous year.

Federal W-4 and State W-4 forms and W-4 instructions are available:

IRS Website: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

State of Michigan website: https://www.michigan.gov/media/Project/Websites/taxes/Forms/MIW4

Questions should be addressed to the Payroll Office at 355-5010 or CTLR.payroll@ctlr.msu.edu .