How to Fill Out Form W-4: Steps, Exemptions, and Penalties

To fill out Form W-4 for 2026, complete Step 1 with your name, address, Social Security number, and filing status, then sign and date Step 5. Everything in between — multiple jobs, dependents, extra income, deductions, additional withholding — is optional and applies only if your situation calls for it. The form tells your employer how much federal income tax to take out of each paycheck, and federal law requires that withholding based on what you report.¹ The current form no longer uses “allowances”; that system ended with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

You can download the form at IRS.gov or get it from your employer’s payroll portal. Only Steps 1 and 5 are mandatory. If you have one job, no dependents, and no unusual income, leaving Steps 2 through 4 blank is fine.

Step 1: Personal Information and Filing Status

Enter your full legal name, address, and Social Security number in Step 1(a) and 1(b). The SSN has to match Social Security Administration records; a mismatch can keep the tax your employer sends in from being credited to you.²

p>In Step 1(c), pick one filing status:

Single or Married Filing Separately
Married Filing Jointly (or Qualifying Surviving Spouse)
Head of Household

Your choice sets the standard deduction and tax brackets your employer uses. For 2026, the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household.³

Step 2: Multiple Jobs or a Working Spouse

Use Step 2 when your household has more than one source of wages — you work two jobs, or you file jointly and your spouse also works. Skip it and each employer withholds as if their paycheck is your only income. The combined withholding almost always comes up short.

You have three options, and you pick one:

The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator at irs.gov/W4App. This is the most accurate option because it walks through your full financial picture.
The Multiple Jobs Worksheet on page 3 of the form. It calculates an extra dollar amount to enter on line 4(c).
The checkbox in Step 2(c). Use it only when there are exactly two jobs and the lower-paying one earns more than half of the higher-paying one. Check the box on both W-4s.²

One privacy point. The Step 2(c) checkbox tells your employer another job or a working spouse exists. If you’d rather not signal that, use the Estimator or the worksheet and enter the result as a flat extra amount on line 4(c). Your employer sees a number, not the reason.

Step 3: Dependent Credits

Step 3 applies if your total income will be $200,000 or less, or $400,000 or less filing jointly. Multiply the number of qualifying children under 17 by $2,200. For other dependents — an older child, an elderly parent, another qualifying relative — the amount is $500 each.² Add the two numbers and write the total on the line. The form uses that figure to reduce withholding each pay period rather than making you wait for a refund.

Step 4: Other Adjustments

Step 4 has three optional lines.

Line 4(a) is for other income you expect this year that won’t have tax withheld, such as interest, dividends, or retirement distributions. Reporting it here spreads the tax across your paychecks instead of leaving you with a lump-sum bill at filing time.

Line 4(b) is for deductions above the standard deduction. If you plan to itemize or claim adjustments that push you past the standard amount, use the Deductions Worksheet on page 4 to figure the number. Leave the line blank if you take the standard deduction.

Line 4(c) is for extra withholding — a specific dollar amount added to every paycheck on top of what the tables calculate. Use it to build in a larger refund, to cover a complex situation, or to enter the result from the Multiple Jobs Worksheet.

Step 5: Sign and Date

Sign the form and date it. An unsigned W-4 is invalid, and your employer cannot use it. Turn the completed form in to payroll or submit it through your employer’s digital portal. The W-4 stays with your employer; it is not sent to the IRS, though the IRS can request copies.⁴

Claiming Exempt From Withholding

You can claim exempt so no federal income tax comes out of your paychecks, but only if both are true: you had zero federal income tax liability last year, and you expect zero this year.² Zero liability means either your total tax on line 24 of last year’s return was zero (or less than your refundable credits), or your income was below the filing threshold for your status.

To claim it, write “Exempt” in the space below Step 4(c), complete Steps 1(a), 1(b), and 5, and leave everything else blank. The exemption expires February 15 of the following year. Miss that date without filing a new W-4 and your employer must revert your withholding to the default: single with no adjustments, the highest standard rate. Claiming exempt when you don’t qualify can bring a large tax bill and penalties at filing time.

If You’re a Nonresident Alien

The standard instructions don’t fully apply to nonresident aliens working in the United States. IRS Notice 1392 sets out the differences.⁵ You must check “Single or Married filing separately” in Step 1(c) regardless of your actual marital status. You cannot claim exempt. Because nonresident aliens generally cannot use the standard deduction, employers add a set amount to your wages before applying the withholding tables; the figure is published in IRS Publication 15-T. Write “nonresident alien” or “NRA” in the space below Step 4(c).⁶

When to Submit a New W-4

Every new employee completes a W-4 before receiving a first paycheck.⁷ After that, the IRS doesn’t require an annual refresh, but several events should prompt one:

Marriage or divorce, which changes your filing status and brackets.
A new dependent through birth, adoption, or a newly qualifying relative.
A second job, or a spouse who starts working.
Significant non-wage income such as interest, dividends, rental income, or freelance pay. You can either add it on line 4(a) or make quarterly estimated payments.⁸
A mid-year job change after a period of unemployment, where a fresh W-4 can prevent over-withholding on the annualized figure.

What Happens If You Don’t Turn One In

Start a new job and skip the W-4, and your employer doesn’t guess. They must withhold as if you are a single filer with no other adjustments: the single standard deduction is applied, but no dependent credits, no extra deductions, no second-job adjustments.⁹ For most people that means more tax comes out than needs to. You’ll get it back as a refund eventually, but you lose the use of the money in the meantime.

Penalties for False Information

The W-4 is signed under penalty of perjury. On the civil side, if you make a statement that decreases your withholding and there was no reasonable basis for it, the IRS can assess a $500 penalty per occurrence.¹⁰ Willfully supplying false or fraudulent information, or deliberately failing to report information that would increase withholding, is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to one year in prison, or both.¹¹ In practice, the Department of Justice often folds intentional W-4 fraud into a broader tax evasion case, which carries much steeper consequences.

State Withholding Is a Separate Form

The federal W-4 covers only federal income tax. Most states with an income tax require their own withholding form; some accept the federal W-4 for state use, and a handful of states have no income tax and require nothing. Your employer’s payroll department or your state tax agency’s website can tell you which applies.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3402 – Income Tax Collected at Source
2
Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4 2026 – Employee’s Withholding Certificate
3
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
4
Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4 and Wage Withholding
5
Internal Revenue Service. About Notice 1392, Supplemental Form W-4 Instructions for Nonresident Aliens
6
Internal Revenue Service. Notice 1392 – Supplemental Form W-4 Instructions for Nonresident Aliens
7
Internal Revenue Service. Hiring Employees
8
Internal Revenue Service. Pay as You Go, So You Won’t Owe: A Guide to Withholding, Estimated Taxes and Ways to Avoid the Estimated Tax Penalty
9
Internal Revenue Service. FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6682 – False Information With Respect to Withholding
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7205 – Fraudulent Withholding Exemption Certificate or Failure to Supply Information