Treasury Regulations · 26 CFR

§ 31.3402(h)(3)-1. Withholding on basis of cumulative wages.

In effect eCFR current as of October 15, 2026

Regulation text, no changes From the eCFR, current as of October 15, 2026. The eCFR is an authoritative but unofficial editorial compilation of the Code of Federal Regulations; the official text is the annual CFR on govinfo. Compare it with this section on ecfr.gov (external site) or the official annual CFR on govinfo (external site).

Regulation under 26 U.S.C. § 3402(h)(3)

Cite as 26 CFR § 31.3402(h)(3)-1

At a glance

Read from the text and its source citation. Not part of the regulation.

Status: In the current eCFR
Issued: July 21, 1970 by T.D. 7053
Last amended: September 27, 1983 by T.D. 7915
Issued under: 26 U.S.C. § 3402(h)(3)
Length: 732 words · about 3 min to read
Cross-references: cites 2 Code sections and 1 regulation; cited by 0

¶(a) In general. In the case of an employee who has in effect a request that the amount of tax to be withheld from his wages be computed on the basis of his cumulative wages, and whose wages since the beginning of the current calendar year have been paid with respect to the same category of payroll period (e.g., weekly or semimonthly), the employer may determine the amount of tax to be deducted and withheld upon a payment of wages made to the employee after December 31, 1969, by taking the following steps:

Step 1. Add the amount of the wages to be paid the employee for the payroll period to the total amount of wages paid by the employer to the employee during the calendar year.

Step 2. Divide the aggregate amount of wages computed in Step 1 by the number of payroll periods to which that amount relates.

Step 3. Compute the total amount of tax that would have been required to be deducted and withheld under section 3402(a) if the average amount of wages (as computed in Step 2) had been paid to the employee for the number of payroll periods to which the aggregate amount of wages (computed in Step 1) relates.

Step 4. Determine the excess, if any, of the amount of tax computed in Step 3 over the total amount of tax already deducted and withheld by the employer from wages paid to the employee during the calendar year.

¶Example.

On July 1, 1970, Y Co. employs B, a single person claiming one exemption. Y Co. pays B the following amounts of wages on the basis of a biweekly payroll period on the following pay days:

July 20	$1,000
August 3	300
August 17	300
August 31	300
September 14	300
September 28	300

On October 5, B requests that Y Co. withhold on the basis of his cumulative wages with respect to his wages to be paid on October 12 and thereafter. Y Co. adds the $300 in wages to be paid to B on October 12 to the payments of wages already made to B during the calendar year, and determines that the aggregate amount of wages is $2,800. The average amount of wages for the 7 biweekly payroll periods is $400. The total amount of tax required to be deducted and withheld for payments of $400 for each of 7 biweekly payroll periods is $485.87 under section 3402(a). Since the total amount of tax which has been deducted and withheld by Y Co. through September 28 is $484.86, Y Co. may, if it chooses, deduct and withhold $1.01 (the amount by which $485.87 exceeds the total amount already withheld by Y Co.) from the payment of wages to B on October 12 rather than the amount specified in section 3402 (a) or (c).

¶(b) Employee's request and revocation of request. An employee's request that his employer withhold on the basis of his cumulative wages and a notice of revocation of such request shall be in writing and in such form as the employer may prescribe. An employee's request furnished to his employer pursuant to this section shall be effective, and may be acted upon by his employer, after the furnishing of such request and before a revocation thereof is effective. A revocation of such request may be made at any time by the employee furnishing his employer with a notice of revocation. The employer may give immediate effect to a revocation, but, in any event, a revocation shall be effective with respect to payments of wages made on or after the first “status determination date” (see section 3402(f)(3)(B)) which occurs at least 30 days after the date on which such notice is furnished.

¶(c) Requests due to increases or decreases in allowances. An employee may request pursuant to this section that his employer withhold on the basis of the employee's cumulative wages when the employee is entitled to claim an increased or decreased number of withholding allowances under § 31.3402(m)-1 during the estimation year (as defined in § 31.3402(m)-1(c)(1)).

(Secs. 3402(i) and (m) and 7805 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (26 U.S.C. 3402 (i) and (m), 95 Stat. 172, 184; 26 U.S.C. 7805, 68A Stat. 917))

[T.D. 7053, 35 FR 11627, July 21, 1970, as amended by T.D. 7915, 48 FR 44074, Sept. 27, 1983]

Cross-references

Computed from the citations in the text of 26 CFR.

Code sections it cites

Regulations it cites

§ 31.3402(m)-1 Additional withholding allowance.

Amendment history

From the source citation at the end of the section, newest first. T.D. is a Treasury decision; FR is the Federal Register.

September 27, 1983Amended by T.D. 7915 (48 FR 44074)
July 21, 1970Issued by T.D. 7053 (35 FR 11627)

Where it sits in 26 CFR

Subchapter C Employment taxes and collection of income tax at source
Part 31 Employment taxes and collection of income tax at source
Subpart E Collection of Income Tax at Source