How to Fill Out a W-4 as a Minor: Exempt Status and Withholding

If you’re a minor starting your first job, filling out a W-4 usually takes about two minutes: enter your name, Social Security number, and address in Step 1, check “Single or Married filing separately,” check the “Exempt from withholding” box if you qualify, and sign Step 5. That’s the whole form for most teen workers. The W-4 tells your employer how much federal income tax to take out of each paycheck, and if you expect to earn less than $16,100 in 2026, the right answer is often zero.

The rest of this guide walks through when exempt status is the right call, when it isn’t, and how to fill in the form either way.

Can You Claim Exempt

Claiming exempt on your W-4 stops your employer from withholding any federal income tax. You qualify if you had no federal income tax liability last year and you expect none this year.¹

For most minors, both conditions are easy to meet. If someone else claims you as a dependent (which is the usual situation for a teen living at home), your 2026 standard deduction is the greater of $1,350 or your earned income plus $450, capped at $16,100.² Practically, that means a summer job paying $6,000 produces a $6,450 standard deduction and zero federal income tax owed. Even $15,000 in wages gets fully absorbed. This is why so many teen workers legitimately owe nothing.

Exempt status stops being safe once your total earnings from all jobs cross $16,100, or if you have significant investment income on top of wages. Claiming exempt when you don’t have a reasonable basis for it carries a $500 penalty.³ A teenager making $8,000 lifeguarding for the summer is fine. A teenager pulling $25,000 across two year-round jobs should not check that box.

What to Have in Front of You

Before starting the form, grab your Social Security card so the name on your W-4 matches it exactly, your home address (that’s where your W-2 wage statement gets mailed after year-end), and a rough estimate of what you’ll earn this year.⁴

Your employer will probably also hand you a Form I-9 to verify you’re allowed to work in the U.S. That’s a separate form from the W-4. If you don’t have a driver’s license, a school ID with a photo paired with your Social Security card or birth certificate works; students under 18 can also use a school record or report card.⁵

Filling Out the W-4 If You’re Claiming Exempt

This is the path most teen workers take. On the 2026 Form W-4:

Step 1(a): your full name and address.
Step 1(b): your Social Security number.
Step 1(c): check “Single or Married filing separately.”
Skip Steps 2, 3, and 4 entirely.
In the space below Step 4(c), write “Exempt” (or check the exempt box, depending on the form version) to certify you meet both conditions.
Step 5: sign and date.

That’s it. Five entries, a certification, and a signature.⁴

Filling Out the W-4 If You’re Not Claiming Exempt

If you expect to earn more than $16,100, had a tax bill last year, or just want federal tax withheld to avoid a surprise in April, don’t check exempt. Complete Step 1 the same way (name, SSN, address, “Single or Married filing separately”), leave Steps 2, 3, and 4 blank unless they specifically apply to you, and sign Step 5.⁴

Blank Steps 2 through 4 tell your employer to withhold at the single-filer default rate, which is the right setting for most minors.

One trap worth flagging: Step 3 is not where you note that someone else claims you as a dependent. Step 3 is where a taxpayer claims credits for their own qualifying children or other dependents. Unless you have a child of your own, leave it blank. Being someone else’s dependent doesn’t touch this step.

If You Work Two Part-Time Jobs

Step 2 is for you if you hold more than one job at a time. When both jobs pay about the same, the simplest fix is to check the box in Step 2(c) on the W-4 you give to each employer. When one job pays significantly more, the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator at irs.gov produces a more accurate number and tells you an extra dollar amount to enter in Step 4(c) on one job’s W-4.⁶

If You Have Interest, Dividends, or Other Non-Job Income

Step 4(a) is where you tell your employer about interest, dividends, or other non-wage income you expect this year. Enter the estimated annual amount and a bit extra will be withheld from each paycheck, saving you from having to make separate estimated payments.⁴

What Exempt Status Does Not Do

Checking exempt only stops federal income tax withholding. It does not stop Social Security tax (6.2% of wages) or Medicare tax (1.45%). Together those are called FICA, and they come out of every paycheck no matter what your W-4 says. Expect to see roughly 7.65% deducted from your gross pay. Filing a tax return does not get FICA back; that money funds your future Social Security and Medicare benefits.

There’s one exception worth knowing. If you work for a sole proprietorship owned by a parent, or for a partnership in which both partners are your parents, your wages are exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes until you turn 18 (age 21 for household work in a parent’s home). The exception does not apply if the family business is a corporation or if any partner isn’t your parent.⁷

Gig Work and Self-Employment Don’t Use a W-4

If you mow lawns, tutor, freelance, or pick up work through an app, you’re generally self-employed and there’s no W-4 to fill out because there’s no employer withholding for you. Instead, you’re on the hook for your own taxes, including self-employment tax once your net earnings hit $400.⁸

Self-employment tax is 15.3%, covering both halves of Social Security and Medicare, and it applies even when your income is well under the standard deduction. A teen earning $3,000 from a summer landscaping business owes no income tax but still owes roughly $424 in self-employment tax. This catches a lot of young workers who assumed earning under the standard deduction meant owing nothing at all.

Turning It In and Keeping It Current

Give the completed W-4 to your employer’s payroll or HR department before your first pay period. If no W-4 is on file, your employer must withhold as if you’re single with no adjustments, which is the highest default and means smaller paychecks until you turn the form in.⁹

Exempt status expires every year. To keep it in place, you must submit a new W-4 to your employer by February 15 of the following year. Miss that date and your employer switches you to single-with-no-adjustments withholding automatically.¹ Put a January reminder on your phone; this is easy to forget and annoying to fix after the fact.

You can also submit a new W-4 anytime your situation changes. Picked up a second job, got a raise that pushes your expected income past $16,100, or realized you’ll earn less than you thought? Update the form.

File a Return If Anything Was Withheld

Even when you aren’t required to file, you should file a federal return if your employer took any federal income tax out of your paychecks. That’s how you get it back. A minor who earned $5,000 and had $300 withheld owes nothing on the wages but has to file Form 1040 to recover the $300.

For 2026, a dependent generally must file a federal return if earned income exceeds $16,100, unearned income exceeds $1,350, or gross income exceeds the larger of $1,350 or earned income plus $450.¹⁰ Below those thresholds, filing is optional but nearly always worth it if any tax was withheld. IRS Free File is free for anyone with adjusted gross income of $89,000 or less, which covers essentially every teenager.

State Withholding Is a Separate Form

The W-4 only covers federal income tax. If you live in a state with its own income tax, your employer will hand you a separate state withholding certificate. About 41 states and the District of Columbia have some form of income tax, and the rules for claiming exempt at the state level vary. Check your state’s form and instructions on their own terms. If your state has no income tax, this doesn’t apply to you.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 753, Form W-4, Employees Withholding Certificate
2
Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-32
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6682 – False Information With Respect to Withholding
4
Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4 – Employee’s Withholding Certificate (2026)
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents
6
Internal Revenue Service. FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4
7
Internal Revenue Service. Family Employees
8
Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)
9
Internal Revenue Service. Withholding Compliance Questions and Answers
10
Internal Revenue Service. Check if You Need to File a Tax Return