Hello Everyone!

An employee/friend came to me with this question regarding her second job, and being somewhat new at processing payroll (1yr), I didn't know the answer. It did however, peak my interest... so, here goes:

She is working for a small cleaning company. They told her, if she wishes to claim more than 1 exemption (like herself and a child)on her W4 she would have to bring in her child's social security card as proof. This seems wrong to me... I guess I was under the impression that reporting and monitoring of W4 exemptions was not necessary, nor our business and obviously, we cannot tell an employee what they should be claiming.

Any thoughts on this? Like I said, it's not my issue, nor my company... just struck my curiousity. Thanks in advance for any advice!

I am not aware of any law that states you have to prove your exemptions. That's news to me. The employee just fills out their W-4 withholdings form. It is up to the employee at the end of the year they are the ones who has to file their IRS taxes at the end of the year - not the company!

To me it would raise a red flag and she should get an earnings report from Social Security to see if it's reported properly.