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Employees fill out Form W-4 to determine their federal withholding tax. This form is crucial as it allows the employee to indicate their filing status, the number of dependents, and any additional amounts they wish to have withheld from their paychecks. The information provided on the W-4 helps employers calculate the correct amount of federal income tax to withhold from the employee's earnings, ensuring compliance with tax regulations and minimizing the likelihood of under- or over-withholding during the tax year.

Form W-2 is a document that employers provide to employees at the end of the year, summarizing the employee’s earnings and tax withholdings for the year but does not influence withholding amounts directly. Form 1040 is the individual income tax return form that taxpayers use to report their annual income and calculate their tax liability; it is not used for withholding purposes. Form 941 is the employer's quarterly federal tax return, which reports the amount of income tax, Social Security tax, and Medicare tax withheld from employees' paychecks. However, it does not pertain to an individual employee's withholding decisions. Thus, the W-4 form is the appropriate document for employees to specify their withholding preferences.