Tax Information
W-2 Forms
Income Withholding Tax (W-4 / K-4)
Working Outside of Kansas
FICA Taxes
FICA Exemption for Students
W-2 Forms
A W-2 form reports an employee's annual wages and the amount of taxes withheld from his/her paychecks. You use the W-2 Form when filing your income tax return after the end of the calendar year.
Income Withholding Tax (W-4 / K-4)
Employees are subject to federal income withholding tax and state income withholding tax. Every employee will need to complete both a W-4 Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate and a K-4 Kansas Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate. Each tax is withheld separately and based on income and the withholding allowances. This allows the University to know the amount of income tax to withhold from your pay. You can update your income withholding tax status at any time.
Information on computing the Federal Withholding Tax.
View the Federal W-4 Form page for information on the new W-4.
State of Kansas Income Withholding
Information on computing the State of Kansas Withholding Tax
Missouri has added a new rule to their tax guide for their residents who are working out of state. These employees need to submit additional forms to the Payroll Office to declare the state they are performing services for KU. Employees may elect to have the 1% Kansas City Missouri earnings tax withheld from their paycheck as well.
Employees who are working outside of Kansas need to submit additional forms to the Payroll Office to ensure their state withholding tax is set up correctly.
Military servicemembers and their spouses may qualify for special state tax withholding rules.
FICA Taxes
The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) is the federal law that requires 3 separate taxes withheld from the employee's wages.
- 6.2% Social Security/OASDI Tax
- 1.45% Medicare Tax
- 0.9% Medicare Additional tax when the employee earns over a certain threshold.
FICA Exemption for Student Employees
Student employees are exempt from FICA tax if they meet both of the requirements below:
1. Your enrollment status must be at least half-time.
- The Registrar's website provides details on enrollment status for the semester and type of student.
- If you have an enrollment waiver which classifies you as at least half-time status, please have your department contact Human Resources to be eligible for the FICA exemption.
2. You must work 30 hours or less per week.
- This is a combined total of all positions with the University.
- The maximum hours requirement applies over breaks as well.
- The hours worked in each week do not affect a week working over 30 hours.
Example: You worked 35 hours in week 1 and 20 hours in week 2. You will be charged FICA since you worked over 30 hours in one of the weeks.
You can find more information regarding the Student Exception to FICA Tax topic on the IRS website.
