Publication 505
Contents
(Rev. December 2002)
Cat. No. 15008E
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Department
of the
Tax
Important Changes for 2002 . . . . . . . . . 2
Treasury
Important Changes for 2003 . . . . . . . . . 2
Internal
Revenue
Withholding
Chapter
Service
1. Tax Withholding for 2003 . . . . . . . . 3
and Estimated
Salaries and Wages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Taxable Fringe Benefits . . . . . . . . . . 11
Tax
Sick Pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Pensions and Annuities . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Gambling Winnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Unemployment Compensation . . . . . . 14
Federal Payments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Backup Withholding . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2. Estimated Tax for 2003 . . . . . . . . . . 16
Who Must Make Estimated Tax
Payments? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
How To Figure Estimated Tax . . . . . . 17
2003 Estimated Tax Worksheet . . . . . 20
When To Pay Estimated Tax . . . . . . . 21
How To Figure Each Payment . . . . . . 22
How To Pay Estimated Tax . . . . . . . . 24
Illustrated Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2003 Tax Rate Schedules . . . . . . . . . 31
2003 Standard Deduction Tables . . . . 32
3. Credit for Withholding and
Estimated Tax for 2002 . . . . . . . . . . 33
Withholding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Estimated Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Excess Social Security or
Railroad Retirement Tax
Withholding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4. Underpayment Penalty for
2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
General Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Figuring Your Required Annual
Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Short Method for Figuring the
Penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Regular Method for Figuring
the Penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Farmers and Fishermen . . . . . . . . . . 41
Waiver of Penalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5. How To Get Tax Help . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Introduction
The federal income tax is a pay-as-you-go tax.
You must pay the tax as you earn or receive
income during the year. There are two ways to
pay as you go.
•
Withholding. If you are an employee,
your employer probably withholds income
tax from your pay. Tax may also be with-
held from certain other income — includ-
ing pensions, bonuses, commissions, and
gambling winnings. In each case, the