Definition: A W-4 Form must be completed by all employees working in the U.S., so that the employer knows how much to withhold from the employee's paycheck for federal income taxes. The employee must indicate:
- Marital Status
- Number of allowances, and
- Additional deduction amounts.
What You Need to Know about Form W-4
- An employee must complete the form at hire before the first paycheck is provided.
- Employees may change the amounts on their W-4 form at any time and as often as they wish.
- The most current W-4 must be signed by the employee and kept in the employee's payroll folder to verify the amount of federal income tax withholding.
- Many U.S. states use their own variation of the W-4 form to record state withholding amounts.
You may not give advice to new employees on filling out the form. If an employee is having difficulty completing the W-4 form, you might want to direct the person to this IRS article about Calculating Your Withholding Allowance.
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