The federal government spending bill (The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 – HR 1865) signed into law on December 20, 2019, extends the 7.5% medical expense deduction floor through 2020. The floor will not revert to 10% as was set to happen in tax year 2019.
The IRS changed the 2020 Form W-2 to reflect this extended tax provision. The percentage in the text on line 1 of the Step 4(b) – Deductions Worksheet on page 3 of the 2020 Form W-4 was changed from 10% to 7.5%.
The IRS also made one minor editorial clarification on line 4 of that worksheet changing “from Schedule 1” to “from Part II of Schedule 1”.
This revised Form W-4 became available on December 31, 2019.
Copies of the form printed or downloaded before this revision date, can still be used, but those forms will still show the incorrect percentage amount.
This percentage difference only affects a few people, and the impact is likely to be very small, if any. The IRS is currently updating its Tax Withholding Estimator to reflect the 7.5% medical expense deduction to help mitigate errors when taxpayers calculate their withholding estimates.