UNT System State Income Tax Withholding Guidelines
Background
UNT System is responsible for complying with state tax reporting rules. Employees who work outside of Texas are responsible for ensuring that they have appropriate authorization to work outside of Texas and that their W-4 reflects the state they work from.
All employees are encouraged to check their paystubs to verify that their state income tax withholding, if applicable, is accurate.
State Income Tax Withholding
Texas Employees
Texas does not have a state income tax. Therefore work performed in Texas is not subject to state income tax withholding.
Non-Texas Employees
Most other states have a state income tax, and an employee’s pay may be subject to state income tax withholding if the employee works in a state that has an income tax. Employees are responsible for knowing whether they work in a state that has a state income tax and checking that state tax deductions are reflected correctly on their paystubs.
Employee Responsibilities
Employees hired to perform services in Texas are required to complete their duties within Texas. If an employee later needs to work outside of Texas on a limited or permanent basis, departmental and HR approval is necessary. Please contact campus HR for more information.
Employees approved to work outside of Texas are responsible for verifying that appropriate state tax deductions are withheld from their pay. Additionally, all employees are responsible for updating their home and mailing addresses to reflect their current residence using employee self-service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1. I am a new employee relocating to Texas before my start date. During onboarding I provided my home (out-of-state from Texas) address. What should I do to ensure that the UNT System payroll and tax departments are aware that I have relocated to Texas?
Answer 1. As you have relocated to Texas to perform services in Texas, your W-4 should reflect Texas. Please email the tax department at tax@untsystem.edu to confirm that your W-4 reflects Texas as your work location.
Question 2. I work in Texas but see that there are out-of-state tax withholdings on my paycheck. What should I do?
Answer 2. Please email the tax department at tax@untsystem.edu. The Tax Department will work with Payroll to verify if any refund of state income taxes is due. UNT System can refund erroneously withheld state income taxes within the year the erroneously withheld state income taxes were collected so long as notification is received before December 1.
If you notice state income tax deductions after W-2s are issued, you would generally need to secure a refund directly from the state when filing your applicable state income tax return.
Question 3. I am a new employee working outside of Texas. I do not see any state income tax withholding, from the state I work in, on my paystub. What should I do?
Answer 3. Please send an email to tax@untsystem.edu so it can be verified whether the W-4 you have on file is accurate.
Question 4. I am a student, studying and working in Texas. Do these rules apply to me?
Answer 4. The general rules for withholding apply to all employees whether faculty, staff, or student.
Question 5. I work in Texas but I maintain residency outside of Texas. Can you withhold out-of-state taxes from my paycheck?
Answer 5. UNT System only withholds for services performed in a state that has a state income tax. Therefore, if an employee performs their services in Texas, UNT System would be unable to withhold tax for additional state(s) where the employee maintains residency(ies).
Also UNT System’s withholding policy does not reflect individual payment and filing responsibilities for employees working in Texas who also maintain residency(ies) in other states. You may want to consult a tax professional for more information.
For questions regarding state income tax withholding, the Tax Department can be contacted at tax@untsystem.edu.