Definition: Form W-4 (Employee's Withholding Certificate) is an IRS form that employees complete and give to their employer. The employer uses it to figure how much federal income tax to withhold from the employee's wages. It is part of new-hire paperwork, alongside the Form I-9, and it directly affects net pay.
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The IRS's About Form W-4 page describes the form as completed by employees and given to their employer so the employer can withhold the correct federal income tax from pay. The page links to the 2026 revision of the form and suggests employees complete a new W-4 each year and when their personal or financial situation changes.
The W-4 controls federal income tax withholding only. It does not set Social Security or Medicare withholding, and it is not a state withholding certificate. Check whether your state requires its own withholding form.
The IRS redesigned the form for 2020, and the IRS's Form W-4 FAQs explain that the redesigned form no longer uses withholding allowances. Instead it has five steps:
| Step | What the employee enters | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Personal information and filing status | Yes, for all employees |
| Step 2 | Multiple jobs or a working spouse, using the IRS estimator, a worksheet, or a checkbox | Only if it applies |
| Step 3 | Dependents and related credits | Only if it applies |
| Step 4 | (a) Other income, (b) deductions, (c) extra withholding per pay period | Optional |
| Step 5 | Signature | Yes, for all employees |
Payroll software, or the withholding tables in IRS Publication 15-T, converts these entries into a withholding amount for each pay period.
Suppose a hypothetical hourly employee is paid biweekly and, based on Steps 1 through 3, payroll calculates $85.00 of federal income tax withholding per paycheck. She expects extra income from a side job and enters $25.00 in Step 4(c).
The $85.00 figure is only illustrative; the real amount depends on wages, filing status, and the current tables. The point is that Step 4(c) adds a flat amount to every paycheck.
Ask every new hire. IRS Publication 15 (Employer's Tax Guide) tells employers to ask each new employee to complete the 2026 Form W-4, and to remind employees to submit a new Form W-4 if they need to change their withholding.
If a new employee does not furnish one. The IRS FAQs say an employee who fails to furnish a Form W-4 is treated as a single filer with no other adjustments.
Employees hired before 2020. According to the FAQs, they are not required to furnish a new form merely because of the redesign, and the employer continues withholding based on the most recent form on file. If you ask them for a new form, the IRS says you should explain that they are not required to provide one.
Exemption claims. Publication 15 says to ask for a new Form W-4 from employees claiming exemption from federal income tax withholding; special rules apply to these forms.
Recordkeeping. Publication 15 lists copies of employees' withholding certificates, including Forms W-4, among the employment tax records to keep, and says to keep all records of employment taxes for at least 4 years.
Employees can update their withholding at any time, and the IRS encourages them to review it when their situation changes, for example after marriage, a new child, or a second job. A clear internal process keeps those changes from getting lost:
It also helps to separate roles. HR or the manager collects the form; payroll enters it; and only authorized people can see it, because a W-4 contains a Social Security number and family information. If an employee asks for help, refer them to the instructions on the form or the IRS website rather than giving personal tax advice.
Finally, remember that withholding is only as accurate as the wages it is applied to. If hours are wrong, both pay and withholding will be wrong, which is another reason to keep reliable time records.
EZTime does not run payroll or calculate tax withholding, but it handles the time data and paperwork around it. Digital HR forms let you collect onboarding documents electronically. Hours come from a GPS mobile time clock with geofencing, NFC tags, a tablet kiosk, or biometric clocks, with overtime and break alerts and timecard corrections tracked in an audit trail. At the end of each period, payroll-ready Excel and PDF exports go to any payroll software, where W-4 withholding is applied. Plans start from $2 per employee per month with a 14-day trial; see the attendance clock and pricing.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
IRS Publication 15 tells employers to ask each new employee to complete Form W-4. If a new employee does not furnish one, the IRS says to treat them as a single filer with no other adjustments.
No. The IRS says allowances are no longer used on the redesigned Form W-4, which was introduced for 2020. The current form uses five steps instead.
Publication 15 lists copies of Forms W-4 among employment tax records and says to keep all records of employment taxes for at least 4 years.
Yes. The IRS suggests employees complete a new Form W-4 each year and whenever their personal or financial situation changes, and Publication 15 tells employers to remind employees they can submit a new one.