How to Fill Out W-4 Form for a New Job

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If this is your first job or you are starting a new job, you must get a W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Certificate) form so that your employer can figure out how much tax to take out of your pay.

Correctly filling out the form is crucial because if low tax is withheld, you can end up owing tax to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) when you file your tax return and incur penalties.

Typically you will be entitled to a refund if an excessive amount is withheld. Fill out a new W-4 form whenever your job, finances, or personal situation changes.

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Table of Contents

What Is a W-4 Form?

The employee must complete the W-4 form for the employer to deduct the appropriate amount of federal income tax from her paycheck.

A W-4 form must be completed when you start a job, so your employer knows how much tax to withhold.

You can print out a PDF version of the W-4 form online and complete it before beginning work. Your company will give you guidance on how to submit it properly.

The W-4 form tells employers how much federal income tax they should withhold from their paychecks.

Review the Instructions

Plan to sit down with your spouse to discuss whether you will be filing a joint tax return for the current year before you start filling out the W-4 form. Review the data; you’ll also need to fill out the form.

How to Complete a W-4 Form

Step 1: Complete Your Personal Information

Include your name, postal address, social security number, and status as a tax filer. Options for tax filing include the following:

Filing separately if single or married.
Filing jointly with a spouse or a qualifying widow (er).
Head of household (if you’re single and cover more than half the expenses of maintaining a home)

Step 2: Complete if You Have Multiple Jobs or Your Spouse Works

If you are married, filing jointly, and have more than one job at a time, complete this step.

Step 3: Claim Your Child and Other Dependent Tax Credit

If your combined income is $200,000 or less ($400,000 if you’re married and filing jointly), add $2,000 to the number of children under 17 on your list.

The number of additional dependents you have should be multiplied by $500. Put in the overall sum.

Step 4: Other Adjustments

List the amount of any other income you anticipate receiving this year that will not be subject to withholding if you wish tax to be deducted from it. These might be mentioned:

Other sources of income, such as dividends, interest, or retirement income.
Extra fees (you can figure out how much you want to be taken out by using the worksheet on page 3 of the form).
A higher withholding (any extra withholding you want to be deducted from each paycheck).

Step 5: Date and Sign the Document

Updating Your W-4 Form

You can file a new W-4 form with your employer even if you haven’t just started a new job, if your financial or personal circumstances change, or if you discover that your tax bill or refund is excessively high after filing.

The tax system in the US is pay-as-you-go. By law, taxpayers must pay most of their tax debt throughout the year rather than at the end.

This can be done by making tax payments ahead of time or changing your deductions so that more tax is taken out of your paychecks or pension payments.

Conclusion

The IRS will treat your income as belonging to a single individual without withholding preferences if you fail to turn in your W-4 by the end of the year.

This could be troublesome depending on your circumstance, so please submit the form as soon as you can while it is still fresh in your mind.