IF your employer absolutely requires you to fill out a W-4 form as a condition of employment, or before paying you (as nearly all employers in the 50 states seem to require), you may – in order for you to not go without work or money for food, rent, electricity – provide your employer the amended W-4 EXEMPT form package (click below), which has:
If you are able to hand in, mail, email, upload or otherwise deliver the entire Employee Withholding Exemption Certificate package (linked below) directly to your employer, all 16 pages, without claiming exempt online, then simply fill in the fields per the highlighted IRS instructions on page 2, print all 16 pages, sign page 1, scan a PDF file for your archives, and deliver it to your employer. (Note: For those who want to electronically sign, download this form and use the Adobe Acrobat Sign feature.)
The remaining 15 pages of the package support the "Release of Employer Liability" that we've added to the bottom of the W-4E form. Be sure to read that note and read all the highlighted portions of the supporting documentation in the package, so that you fully understand what you are sending your employer. If you have any questions or concerns, call Freedom Law School at 813-444-4800 to discuss with an activist.
However, if you must claim exempt from withholding on your employer's online payroll system, the following step is necessary to fully protect you. The reason this is important to do is that by filing exempt on the company's online payroll system, you are not able to document that you are claiming exempt under duress because the law on withholding does not apply to them or to you. Also, you are not able to document your understanding of the law and your intention to follow the law.
When claiming exempt on the company's online payroll system, mail the cover letter below with the 16-page W-4E package by Certified Mail. Fill in the fields of the cover letter, then print the letter and sign it. Fill in the fields on the W-4 Employee Withholding Exemption Certificate (page 1 of the package).
Before you put all 17 pages in an envelope and seal the envelope, get a certified mailing slip from the post office and write the tracking number on the cover letter. Then copy, or scan a PDF file of all 17 pages to keep as evidence if ever needed. Now you will be ready to seal and mail the envelope.
At the post office, you will go to the counter and the attendant will stamp the certified mail receipt and give it back to you. Copy or scan that stamped receipt and keep it with your copy of the package. This is important legal evidence that you mailed this package to your employer.
Whether handing your employer the 16-page package or claiming exempt online and mailing the 17-page package by certified mail, claiming exempt from withholding is a temporary measure only. As soon as possible, you should send the Petition to Congress on employment tax laws.
Note that, since by the IRS W-4E exemption certificate you are certifying that you were not liable to file and pay federal income taxes in 2022 and you again do not expect to be liable in 2023, you will be required by law to send another W-4E package by February 15, 2024 to remain exempt from withholding next year also. We will make a new one available in late December based on the new IRS Form W-4, which the IRS updates every year.
This exemption from federal income tax withholding will not stop payroll taxes! (Payroll taxes are the "FICA" taxes usually shown as "Social Security" and "Medicare" taxes on your paystub.) Your employer is extremely unlikely to stop deducting 7.65% of your wages for payroll taxes. Your employer is also paying an additional 7.65% of your wages from the profits they earn from your labors.
As long as you are working as an employee rather than as an independent contractor or small businessperson, this 14.2% (geek calc: that's 15.3% divided by 107.65%) of the value you are adding to your employer's business will go to the U.S. Treasury instead of to you. We recommend making plans to get yourself out of this predicament in which you are working for a government that is working against you.
This exemption will also not stop state withholding if you work in one of the states with income taxes. Each state has its own forms and laws, some of which we have researched and some not yet. When we have completed our research we will post links to all state laws and forms related to income tax liability and withholding. However, our main concern is the overwhelming overreach of the federal government, and the fact that 80% of income taxes are not collected by the IRS but by employers! If you are an employer, please check out our Employer Freedom Plan.