OverviewMississippi's personal exemption calculation allows an employee claiming Married with a working spouse to divide the exemption between them in any manner they choose in multiples of 500 (with no decimal).
Mississippi (MS) income tax withholding automatically calculates exemption amounts based on the employee's claimed filing status and exemptions (dependents), as recorded on the Employee Tax Detail for Mississippi state income tax. Where the income tax withholding is for Mississippi and the system tax filing status code is MJ, the taxes process with the assumption that the employee claims the entire $12,000.00 personal exemption amount for the status, unless the spouse's claimed portion is entered in the Credits field (up to 5 positions, no decimals).
For an employee who marks Marital Status 2b (married filing jointly with an employed spouse) on the "Mississippi Employee's Withholding Exemption Certificate", calculate and record the SPOUSE'S claimed portion of the $12,000.00 personal exemption amount in the Credits field. For instance, if the employee writes $4,000.00 for Line 2b, calculate the spouse's claimed amount as $12,000.00 - $4,000.00 equals $8,000.00, and then enter 8000 into the Credits field. In contrast, if the employee marks Marital Status 2b and writes 0 for Line 2b, enter 12000 in the Credits field.
In summary, for an employee with a filing status code of MJ, enter his or her spouse's claimed portion in the Credits field (up to 5 positions, no decimals) on the Employee Tax Detail for Mississippi state income tax. The remainder is what the employee claims as his or her personal exemption.