How to fill out a W-4
Here’s how to complete the steps that apply to your situation.
Step 1: Personal information
Enter your name, address, Social Security number and tax-filing status.
Step 2: Account for multiple jobs
If you have more than one job, or you file jointly and your spouse works, follow the instructions to get more accurate withholding.
- For the highest paying job’s W-4, fill out steps 2 to 4(b) of the W-4. Leave those steps blank on the W-4s for the other jobs.
- If you’re married and filing jointly, and you both earn about the same amount, you can check a box indicating as much. The trick: Both spouses must do that on their W-4s.
- If you don’t want to reveal to your employer that you have a second job, or that you get income from other non-job sources, you have a few options: On line 4(c), you can instruct your employer to withhold an extra amount of tax from your paycheck. Alternatively, don’t factor the extra income into your W-4. Instead of having the tax come directly out of your paycheck, send estimated tax payments to the IRS yourself instead.
Step 3: Claim dependents, including children
If your total income is under $200,000 (or $400,000 if filing jointly), you can enter how many kids and dependents you have and multiply them by the credit amount. (See the rules about the child tax credit and for when you can claim a tax dependent.)
Step 4: Refine your withholdings
If you want extra tax withheld or expect to claim deductions other than the standard deduction when you do your taxes, you can note that.
Step 5: Sign and date your W-4
Once completed, give the signed form to your employer’s human resources or payroll team.
What should I put on my W-4?
If you got a huge tax bill when you filed your tax return last year and don’t want another, you can use Form W-4 to increase your withholding. That’ll help you owe less (or nothing) next time you file. If you got a huge refund last year, you’re giving the government a free loan and could be needlessly living on less of your paycheck all year. Consider using Form W-4 to reduce your withholding.
Here are some steps you might take toward a specific outcome:
How to have more taxes taken out of your paycheck
If you want more taxes taken out of your paychecks, perhaps leading to a tax refund when you file your annual return, here’s how you might adjust your W-4.
- Reduce the number of dependents.
- Add an extra amount to withhold on line 4(c).
How to have less tax taken out of your paycheck
If you want less in taxes taken out of your paychecks, perhaps leading to having to pay a tax bill when you file your annual return, here’s how you might adjust your W-4.
- Increase the number of dependents.
- Reduce the number on line 4(a) or 4(c).
- Increase the number on line 4(b).
How to use a W-4 to owe nothing on a tax return
If your objective is to engineer your paycheck withholdings so that you end up with a $0 tax bill when you file your annual return, then the accuracy of your W-4 is crucial.
- Use the correct tax-filing status. If you file as head of household and haven’t updated your W-4 for a few years, for example, you may want to consider filling out a new W-4 if you want the amount of taxes withheld from your pay to more accurately align with your tax liability. (Here’s how to choose the right filing status.)
- Make sure your W-4 reflects your current family situation. If you had a baby or had a teenager turning 18 this year, your tax situation is changing and you may want to update your W-4.
- Accurately estimate your other sources of income. Capital gains, interest on investments, rental properties and freelancing are just some of the many other sources of non-job income that might be taxable and worth updating on line 4(a) of your W-4.
- Accurately estimate your deductions. The W-4 assumes you’re taking the standard deduction when you file your tax return. If you plan to itemize (presumably because itemizing will cut your taxes more than the standard deduction will), you’ll want to estimate those extra deductions and change what’s on line 4(b).
- Take advantage of the line for extra withholding. If you want to have a specific number of extra dollars withheld from each check for taxes, you can put that on line 4(c).