Maybe you've had too much/too little in taxes
withheld. Or maybe you want to take advantage of the
new, higher 2004 pre-tax retirement plan
contributions. Either way, this is the perfect time
of the year to review your paycheck withholdings, so
you can put the paperwork into your payroll
department for January. To fine-tune federal tax
withholdings, use the Internal Revenue Service's
Form W-4, available at
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf. To fine-tune
state tax withholdings, use the Massachusetts
Department of Revenue's Form M-4, available at
http://www.massdor.com/forms/wage_rpt/pdfs/m_4.pdf.
For 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and 457s, the pre-tax
contribution limit will be $13,000 in 2004, up from
this year's $12,000. And the catch-up contribution
for people age 50 and older will be $3,000, up from
this year's $2,000.