How to Fill Out a W-4: Step-by-Step Instructions

To fill out a W-4, enter your name, Social Security number, address, and filing status in Step 1, then sign and date Step 5. That’s the whole form for most people with a single job and no dependents. Steps 2, 3, and 4 exist for specific situations: a second job or working spouse, children or other dependents, and income or deductions that don’t show up on your paycheck. The 2026 form uses dollar amounts throughout, not the old allowances system, so each entry either raises or lowers what your employer withholds.¹

Step 1: Your Information and Filing Status

Write your full legal name exactly as it appears on your Social Security card, along with your Social Security number and home address. If the name doesn’t match SSA records, your tax payments may not be credited properly.¹

Then check one filing status box. This choice controls the standard deduction and tax brackets your employer applies:

Single or Married Filing Separately — standard deduction of $16,100
Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Surviving Spouse — standard deduction of $32,200
Head of Household — standard deduction of $24,150

Those amounts are for tax year 2026.² Qualifying Surviving Spouse shares the same box as Married Filing Jointly. Head of Household is available only if you’re unmarried and pay more than half the cost of keeping a home for yourself and a qualifying dependent.³ The wrong status skews withholding for the entire year, so pick carefully.

If you have one job, no dependents, and no other income to worry about, jump straight to Step 5 and sign.

Step 2: More Than One Job or a Working Spouse

Fill in Step 2 only if you work more than one job at the same time, or you’re married filing jointly and your spouse also works. Without it, each employer withholds as if that job were your only income, which almost always leaves too little tax coming out.¹

You pick one of three methods:

Option (a): use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator at irs.gov/W4App. This is the most accurate route, especially if the household has self-employment income, pensions, or Social Security benefits. It tells you exactly what to enter.
Option (b): work through the Multiple Jobs Worksheet on page 3 of the W-4 instructions. It uses wage ranges to estimate the extra withholding needed and gives you a dollar amount to put on line 4(c). Useful if you’d rather not signal to one employer that you have another job, since the result just appears as additional withholding.
Option (c): check the box in Step 2(c). Only use this when there are exactly two jobs in the household and the pay is roughly equal. Both W-4s must have the box checked. The more the two salaries differ, the more this method over-withholds.

Whichever option you choose, complete Steps 3 and 4 on only one W-4, the one for the highest-paying job. Doing them on both forms double-counts the credits and deductions.¹

Step 3: Dependents

Step 3 lowers your withholding based on the credits you expect to claim. Multiply the number of dependents in each category by the matching amount:

Qualifying children under age 17: $2,200 each
Other dependents: $500 each

Add the two figures and put the total on line 3.¹ The $2,200 matches the 2026 child tax credit.⁴ A qualifying child has to meet the IRS relationship, residency, and age tests. The $500 credit for other dependents covers qualifying relatives who don’t fit the child tax credit rules.

Step 4: Other Adjustments

Step 4 is optional. Use it to fine-tune withholding when you have income beyond wages, plan to itemize, or just want more tax taken out.

Line 4(a): Other Income

Enter the total non-wage income you expect this year that won’t have taxes withheld, such as interest, dividends, or retirement distributions. Your employer will withhold a little more each pay period to cover the tax on it, which can spare you from making quarterly estimated payments.¹

Line 4(b): Deductions

If you’re planning to itemize instead of taking the standard deduction, the Deductions Worksheet on page 4 walks you through it. You total your expected itemized deductions, including mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and state and local taxes up to $40,400 ($20,200 if married filing separately), then subtract your standard deduction. A positive result goes on line 4(b) and reduces your withholding.¹ Leave this line blank if you’re taking the standard deduction; the form already handles it through your filing status.

Line 4(c): Extra Withholding

Put a flat dollar amount here if you want more tax taken from every paycheck. Reasons to do it include building a cushion against a tax bill, aiming for a bigger refund, or covering a second job using the Multiple Jobs Worksheet result. Whatever number you enter comes out of every pay period regardless of that period’s wages.¹ Withholding too little can trigger an underpayment penalty when you file: generally, if you owe $1,000 or more after your withholding and refundable credits.⁵

Step 5: Sign, Date, and Hand It In

The form isn’t valid without your signature. Signing certifies under penalty of perjury that everything on it is true and correct.¹ An electronic signature through an employer’s payroll portal counts if the system meets IRS requirements. Deliver the completed form to payroll or HR. You never send a W-4 to the IRS yourself.

Claiming Exemption from Withholding

If you had zero federal income tax liability last year and expect the same this year, you can ask to have no federal income tax withheld at all. On the 2026 form, check the “Exempt from withholding” box, complete Steps 1(a), 1(b), and 5, and leave Steps 2 through 4 blank.¹

Exempt status expires at year-end. To keep it for the next year, submit a new W-4 claiming exempt by February 15 (or the next business day). If your employer doesn’t receive one by that date, they’ll withhold as if you were single with no other entries.⁶ Nonresident aliens cannot claim exempt on a W-4 even when they meet both conditions.

When to Submit a New W-4

You can turn in a new W-4 anytime, as often as you like. Certain changes require a new form within 10 days when the change means your current withholding won’t cover your tax:⁷

Filing status drops, such as Married Filing Jointly to Single, Head of Household, or Married Filing Separately, or Head of Household to Single
You or your spouse start a second job and you used the Multiple Jobs Worksheet or Estimator on your current W-4
An expected raise of more than $10,000 in regular wages at a second or third job
You no longer qualify for a child tax credit you claimed, or other credits drop by more than $500
Expected deductions decrease by more than $2,300 from what you entered
You no longer expect to owe zero federal income tax

Even outside those triggers, revisit your W-4 after a marriage, divorce, birth, job change, or shift in non-wage income. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator at irs.gov/W4App will show whether you’re headed for a balance due or a refund.

If You Don’t Turn In a W-4

Start a new job without submitting a W-4 and your employer must withhold as if you were single with no other adjustments. No dependent credits, no extra deductions, no multi-job accounting.⁸ For many people that means more tax coming out than needed. Filing the form on day one puts you in control.

Nonresident Alien Employees

If you’re a nonresident alien working in the United States, the standard W-4 instructions don’t fully apply. IRS Notice 1392 lays out the differences:⁹

Check “Single or Married Filing Separately” regardless of actual marital status, because nonresident aliens generally can’t file jointly
Complete Step 2 only if you personally hold more than one job; don’t count a spouse’s job
In Step 3, only residents of Canada, Mexico, South Korea, or India may claim dependent credits
Write “NRA” or “nonresident alien” in the space below line 4(c)
Do not claim exempt status even if you would otherwise qualify
Skip the online Tax Withholding Estimator; it’s built for U.S. residents and produces wrong results

You also need to put a Social Security number on the form. An ITIN can’t be used on a W-4.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4 (2026) Employee’s Withholding Certificate
2
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
3
Internal Revenue Service. Filing Status
4
Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
5
Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040-ES (2026), Estimated Tax for Individuals
6
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 753, Form W-4 Employees Withholding Certificate
7
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 505 (2025), Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax
8
Internal Revenue Service. Withholding Compliance Questions and Answers
9
Internal Revenue Service. Supplemental Form W-4 Instructions for Nonresident Aliens