How to Complete a W-4

The W-4 form is an "Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate" that employees fill out to specify how much an employer should withhold from their paycheck for taxes. The W-4 form includes three worksheets. The first worksheet is a basic allowance worksheet to determine credits for dependents and an employee's filing status. The second worksheet allows for more specific deductions such as expected medical expenses that would exceed 7.5 percent of your income, or your mortgage interest. The last worksheet is for those earners who have multiple jobs or live in a household with multiple earners.

Instructions

1. Enter your full first name and middle initial in the first field. Enter your full last name in the field next to it. Enter your complete Social Security number in the corresponding field. Write your home address including street address, city, state and ZIP code in the corresponding fields. Mark whether you are single or married.

2. Enter the total number of allowances you are claiming on line 5 by completing the "Personal Allowances Worksheet" as part of the W-4 form. To figure this out, you can complete the worksheet included with the W-4 instructions and form. The worksheet allows you to enter a credit of "1" or another number for every allowance option that you can claim: enter "1" to claim yourself, enter "1" to claim your spouse, enter the number of dependents in addition to your spouse that you will claim, enter "1" if you are head of household, enter "1" if you will have more than $1,800 worth of child care expenses, and enter the appropriate number credits for the Child Tax Credit if you will be taking that allowance. If you want to itemize your deductions, have multiple jobs or are a two-earner household, you will want to complete the appropriate worksheets included with the form, as outlined in the following steps.

3. Enter your total itemized deductions in line 5. You can itemize your deductions on the "Deductions and Adjustments Worksheet" included in the W-4 form instructions so that you can claim items such as mortgage interest, charitable contributions or medical expenses. You will have to estimate the amount of those deductions for the entire tax year. Subtract the amount corresponding to your filing status on the form from the total amount of your deductions. For example, if you have $8,400 in deductions and claim single as your filing status, then deduct $5,700 (as of 2010) from $8,400. Follow the rest of the instructions. Then enter in your total on line "H" on the "Personal Allowances Worksheet."

4. Complete the "Two-Earners/Multiple Jobs Worksheet." This worksheet will allow you to calculate the correct withholding if you have multiple jobs or have two-earners in your household. Start by entering the number from line "H" on your "Personal Allowances Worksheet." Enter a credit (e.g., 1) for the lowest-paying job you have. If you are married, filing jointly and earning no more than $65,000 a year, make sure not to claim more than 3 credits in line "2." Follow the next set of instructions. Then enter the credit allocated to your wage for your highest-earning job on line "7." Compute the next instructions and enter your result on your W-4 form, line "5."

5. List any additional amount you want withheld from your paycheck for taxes on line "6." If you expect to possibly earn more, or if you think that you may end up owing taxes at the end of the year, you can have your employer withdraw more from every paycheck to offset the amount you will owe.

6. Sign the W-4 and date it in the corresponding field.

References

• IRS: W-4