I`m not sure I`m posting this in the correct category but hopefully someone will be able to help. .My fiancee recently started a new job and filed exempt on his I-9 form. With his previous job he paid more than enough into state and federal taxes so with this job he filed exempt. The accounting department assumed that he had made a mistake by not entering any information on line 5. He did, however, write exempt on line 7. The accounting department changed the information on my fiancee`s I-9 form and withheld federal and state taxes without notifying my fiancee beforehand. This has to be unlawful! Other than making sure the information is corrected, are there any other actions I can take against this company in regards to this situation?

His employer is required to withhold payroll taxes based on the W-4 your spouse fills out and signs indicating how many allowances he is claiming plus any additional dollar amount your spouse wants withheld or whether he is exempt from income tax withholding.His employer should not change his federal income tax withholding allowances without written notification from your spouse (or the IRS, which is rare) to do .Each state has specific laws to protect employee's rights.The employer should have discussed the options with him and had him submit a new W4 claiming an acceptable amount of allowances to reduce his tax withholding. If the status of "exempt" actually applies to the both of you, then a new W4 can be submitted and a copy of his tax return presented to his employer to back up the status claimed. The same will apply if above normal allowances are claimed to reduce the withholding amounts.however, the withholding that you believe has been withheld in error will be returned to you if it is owed to you in a refund from the IRS when you file your taxes next year.To see what rules an employer must follow in this respect, I suggest you view IRS publication 505 and see the sections titled "Rules Your Employer Must Follow' and "Exemption From Withholding". You may want to contact the IRS help line/ state dept of labor.