In January, 145 withholding model

When hiring your workers, your company had them sign a communication (the 145 model) where they informed you about their personal and family situation, in order to calculate their withholding. However, remember that the withholding rate must be modified if changes occur and your workers communicate them to the company (a birth, the payment of alimony...).

Therefore, it is advisable that in January you offer your workers the possibility to fill out a 145 model informing about the changes that occurred in the previous year and have not yet been communicated. This way, everyone will benefit:

• For your company, this will allow fewer employees to communicate changes that took place in the previous year at another time (for example, halfway through the year, which would force you to recalculate the withholding rate established in January).
• For the workers, if the changes communicated in the 145 model result in a lower withholding rate, it will allow them to receive a higher net amount each month; and if they result in an increase, they will avoid the penalties that the Tax Office can impose for not communicating these changes.

If any of your employees provide incorrect data in order to support a lower withholding (for example, stating that the spouse has no income, or that they have dependents under their care when it is not true), it will be the employee –and not the company– who is responsible to the Tax Office. In that case, if the worker is required to file the income tax return, the Tax Office can impose a penalty of 35% of the amounts not withheld (150% if not required).

Always calculate the withholding according to the data provided by your employees, and keep the signed 145 model. Thus, in case of inspection, your company can prove that it has acted correctly.