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EDB MANUAL, SECTION B - GENERAL INFORMATION

B3.0 EDB TAX STATUS


Citizenship status and tax withholding are two separate issues, but for all employees who are not U.S. citizens (aliens), the citizenship code controls the tax exemptions and filing status an employee may elect. Employees who are U.S. citizens simply fill out a W-4 form indicating their filing status and exemptions. It is up to the employee to decide what to enter on the W-4 form. In some cases, the IRS and/or the Franchise Tax Board could limit the maximum number of exemptions an employee could claim by sending the employee and the University a letter. The Payroll Tax Accountant would then set the maximum exemptions in the system to the number in the IRS/Franchise Tax Board letter.

For employees who are not US citizens, the W-4 is still the basis for completing the ETAX - Tax Information screen. However, aliens are required to follow IRS regulations for Alien employees. The filing status and exemptions are determined by these regulations. While the information below provides a guide for alien employees completing the W-4 form, the In-service training course on Alien Information provides a more in-depth instruction of payroll processing of alien employees.

TAX STATUS BASED ON CITIZENSHIP CODE - The following chart shows the relationship between citizenship code, visa status and an employee's tax exemptions and filing status restrictions.

Summary of Citizenship Code, Visa Status, and Tax Status
Citizenship
Code		 Visa Status FEDERAL TAX STATE TAX
Filing Status Exemptions Filing Status Exemptions
C BLANK Any Up to 998 Any Up to 998
R F1, J1, H1, H2,  K1, K2, PR, RF, O1, O2, P1, P2, P3, TN Any Up to 998 Any Up to 998
E** F1, J1 Single 999 Any Up to 998
F F1, H1,  J1, O1, P1, P2 Single 999 Any Up to 998
N A1, F1, J1, H1, H2, K1, K2, O1, O2, P1, P2, P3 Single 001 Any Up to 998
P Any except A1, A2, TN, PR, RF Any Up to 998 Any Up to 998
A F1, H1, H2, J1, J2, K1, K2, O1, O2, P1, P2, P3, TN Single Up to 998 Any Up to 998
S F1, J1 Any Based on IRS regulations* Any Up to 998
X BLANK Single 999 Single 997
Explanation of Exemption Coding
999: The employee is (1) a non-resident of the U.S. living and working outside the country and is exempt from income tax AND income tax reporting OR (2) the employee is on a tax treaty.
998: The employee is exempt from income tax withholding because the employee claimed exempt on the W-4.
997: The employee is a non-resident of California and is living AND working outside the state of California and is therefore claiming exempt from California income taxes.  If the employee is a resident of another state for tax purposes, the employee may be subject to Out of State Withholding - consult the payroll office tax accountant.

* NOTE:  A non-resident alien from India who is a registered UCLA student may claim a spousal exemption and additional exemptions for dependents if certain conditions are met.  These conditions are as follows:

To claim an additional exemption for the taxpayer's spouse:
  1. A joint return can not be filed AND
  2. the spouse can not have gross income for the relevant taxable year AND
  3. the spouse can not be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.
To claim additional exemptions for the taxpayer's dependents, the conditions are:
  1. the children must reside with the taxpayer in the United States during the taxable year
  2. the dependents must be U.S. citizens or nationals or residents of the United States, Canada, or Mexico.
  3. The dependents can not have been admitted to the United States on F-2, J-2 or M-2 visas.
** NOTE: An employee claiming exempt from federal taxes per a tax treaty needs to complete form 8233 and the tax treaty form prior to being granted the exemption. The employee should initially be coded an ‘A’ or ‘N’, and on the ETAX screen the federal marital status must be entered as ‘S’ for single and ‘001’ for federal allowances. When the Payroll Office authorizes, the employee’s citizenship code should be changed to ‘E’ and the employee’s ETAX federal allowances should be changed from ‘001’ to ‘999’. This should not be done prior to the Payroll Office granting authorization for the update. The sooner the appropriate forms are filled out and forwarded to Payroll, the sooner the employee’s exempt status will be approved. The 8233 form the employee fills out must be the most current version of the form and completed accurately. Any pay the employee receives prior to approval will be subject to federal withholding and the withholding is not refundable. Exemption from federal taxes per a tax treaty must be renewed each year. Any questions regarding alien employees and their tax status can be directed to the Payroll Services Tax Accountant.


The ETAX screen is used to enter tax information for all employees. Each line on the ETAX screen matches a line or box on the W-4 form.

 PPETAX0-E1755                 EDB Entry/Update                10/10/YY 14:09:20
 09/07/YY 13:51:56             Tax Information                 Userid:  ABCDE   
 ID: 900222596 Name: BLUES,BERTHA D                             Pri Pay: MO    
 Federal                           Tax Processor ID : PPS02/08/YYPPWWW          
   Marital Status         : M      W-4 Process Date : 02/08/YY                  
   Personal Allowances    : 002    DE4 Process Date : 02/08/YY                  
   Maximum Withholding    : 999                      
 California                                                                     
   Marital Status         : M      Consent for Electronic W-2 :                    
   Personal Allowances    : 002                                                 
   Itemized Deductions    : 000                                                 
   Maximum Withholding    : 999                                                 
 Addl Fed Tax Withholding :               Other State Tax CA Res  :        
 Addl CA Tax Withholding  :               Current OS Gross Name   :        
                                          Other State Gross Name 1:        
 Earned Inc Credit Status :               Other State Gross Name 2:        
 EIC YTD Payments         :               Other State Gross Name 3:        
 Earnings Limit           :               Other Local Tax Ind     :
 SSN: 123456789                                  
 Next Func:      ID:           Name:                            SSN:            
                                                                                
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The following fields shown on the ETAX chart below should be completed using the EALN screen (rather than on the ETAX screen) for all employees who are not U.S. Citizens.

A chart that lists the fields on the ETAX screen and how to complete the screen using the W-4 as a reference follows:

Entering Data in Fields on the ETAX Screen
Field Label Additional Information
Federal  
Marital Status Marital status on W-4 Federal (28) - Key letter next to box checked on W-4.
Personal Allowances From the W-4 form - FEDERAL total number of allowances you are claiming OR 998 if employee is claiming exemption from withholding in part 3 of the W4 form OR 999 if an alien employee is claiming exempt per a Tax Treaty.
Maximum Withholding Set by System as 999. If other than 999, Payroll Services has changed it based on a letter received from the IRS. This is the total maximum exemptions the employee can claim.
California  
Marital Status Marital status box on W-4 State (29) - Key letter next to box checked on W-4.
Personal Allowances From the W-4 form - STATE total number of Regular Withholding Allowances you are claiming for this job OR 998 if employee is claiming exemption from withholding in part 3 of the W4 form OR 997 if employee non resident of state. Employees who are residents of other states for tax purposes may be subject to out of state withholding.
Itemized Deductions

 From the W-4 form - STATE b. total number of Additional Withholding Allowances for estimated deductions".
Maximum Withholding Set by System as 999. If other than 999, Payroll Services has changed it based on a letter received from the IRS or Franchise Tax Board. This is the total maximum exemptions the employee can claim.
Addl Fed Tax Withholding The total monthly amount of additional Federal tax the employee requests withheld in Box 5a on the W-4 form. The format is NNNNN.NN. To cancel the additional amount withheld, an * must be entered in this field.
Addl CA Tax Withholding The total monthly amount of additional State tax the employee requests withheld in Box 5b on the W-4 form. The format is NNNNN.NN. To cancel the additional amount withheld, an * must be entered in this field.
Other State Tax CA Resident This information is entered from the Out of State Withholding form. Consult Payroll Services Tax Accountant before processing.

Earned Income Credit Status

 This information is entered from a W-5 form. At present, there only a few employees on campus claiming this credit. Call Payroll Services for instructions before processing information.
EIC YTD Payments The year-to-date value for any income subject to the earned income credit.
Earnings Limit The earnings limit associated with the earned income credit.

SSN

 The social security number of the employee as entered on the EEID screen.
Tax Processor ID The User ID and update date or confirmation number generated by At Your Service Online.
W-4 Process Date The date of the most recent update to any of the Federal Tax fields (marital status, withholding allowances or additional withholding).
DE4 Process Date The date of the most recent update to any of the California Tax fields (marital status, withholding allowances or additional withholding).
Consent for Electronic W-2 A code which indicates that the employee wishes to receive an electronic version of the W-2 via At Your Service Online.

Other State Tax CA Res

 A two character code for a state in which the University is registered to collect taxes which is entered if a UCLA employee is a resident of that state for tax purposes. Consult Payroll Services Tax Accountant before processing.
Current OS Gross Name Consult Payroll Services Tax Accountant before processing any information in this field.

Other State Gross Name 1

Consult Payroll Services Tax Accountant before processing any information in this field.

Other State Gross Name 2

Consult Payroll Services Tax Accountant before processing any information in this field.

Other State Gross Name 3

Consult Payroll Services Tax Accountant before processing any information in this field.
Other Local Tax Ind Consult Payroll Services Tax Accountant before processing any information in this field.


Completed W-4 forms for all employees must be forwarded to Payroll Services immediately after they are entered on the EDB.

Incomplete or inaccurately filled out W-4 forms should be returned to the employee for correction or completion before the ETAX is updated/changed. Guidelines for properly completing the W-4 form and examples of different types of completed W-4 forms can be found in Section B, Forms B11.3 of this manual.


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