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Money

Filling out a W-4

A W-4 tells your employer how much federal income tax to hold back from each paycheck. Use the 2026 form at every new job. Most people with one job and no dependents fill in Step 1, sign Step 5, and are done. If you earn tips or overtime, Step 4(b) is new and worth a look.

Easy15 min to doFree

You'll need

  • Your Social Security number
  • Last year's tax return, if you filed one
  • A recent pay stub, if you have one

Do it like this

The steps of Form W-4 (2026)A simplified outline of the 2026 Form W-4. Step 1, your personal information and filing status, and Step 5, your signature, are highlighted because everyone completes them. Steps 2, 3 and 4 are dashed because you only fill them in if they apply. Step 4(b) is where an estimate of qualified tips or overtime from the page 4 worksheet goes, new for 2026. The exempt box is only for people who owed no federal income tax in 2025 and expect to owe none in 2026.Form W-4 (2026)Step 1Your name, address, SSN, filing statusEveryoneStep 2More than one job, or a spouse who worksIf it appliesStep 3DependentsIf it appliesStep 4Other income, deductions, extra withholdingIf it applies4(b)Tips or overtime: use the page 4 worksheetNew for 2026ExemptOnly if no tax owed in 2025 or 2026RareStep 5Sign and dateEveryone
Everyone does Steps 1 and 5. The rest only if they apply.
  1. Get the 2026 Form W-4 from your employer or the IRS Form W-4 page. Many employers have you fill it out online. It's the same form.
  2. Step 1: your name, address, Social Security number and filing status. Your name should match your Social Security card. If it doesn't, the form says to contact the Social Security Administration so you get credit for your earnings (IRS).
  3. Steps 2 through 4 are only for people they apply to (IRS). Step 2 is for more than one job, or a married couple filing jointly where both work. Step 3 is for dependents. Step 4 covers other income, deductions and extra withholding.
  4. Earn tips or overtime? Use the Deductions Worksheet on page 4 and put the result in Step 4(b). For 2026 it has lines for qualified tips (an estimate, up to $25,000) and qualified overtime (only the extra "half" of time-and-a-half, up to $12,500 if single), if your total income is under $150,000. This lowers your withholding now instead of waiting for a refund (IRS).
  5. Sign and date Step 5 and hand it in. The form isn't valid unless you sign it (IRS).
  6. Check your first paycheck. If the withholding looks off, use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator. The IRS updated it for the 2025 tax law changes, including tips and overtime, and it can produce a filled-in W-4 for you (IRS).
Watch out. Don't check the "Exempt from withholding" box unless you meet both conditions: you had no federal income tax liability in 2025, and you expect none in 2026. If you claim exempt, no income tax comes out of your pay, and you may owe tax and penalties when you file. An exemption lasts one year. You need a new W-4 by February 16, 2027 (IRS).

If it doesn't work

  • If too little is coming out, run the estimator. It can give you a completed W-4 to hand to your employer (IRS).
  • If too much is coming out, the estimator can show how to get a bigger paycheck now instead of a bigger refund later (IRS).
  • If you have two jobs, fill in Steps 3 through 4(b) on the W-4 for only one job, ideally the highest-paying one, and use Step 2 so both jobs together withhold enough (IRS).
  • If you claimed exempt and your situation changed, turn in a new W-4 without the box checked (IRS).

Good to know

Tips and overtime still count for Social Security

The new deductions are for federal income tax. Tips (if they're $20 or more a month) and overtime are still generally subject to Social Security and Medicare tax (IRS).

Qualified tips, explained

The IRS says qualified tips are voluntary cash or charged tips from customers or tip sharing, in jobs where people customarily get tips, like wait staff, bartenders and salon workers (IRS).

Check every January

The IRS suggests checking your withholding every January, and again after big changes like a second job (IRS).

No more allowances

Old W-4s used "allowances." The current form doesn't. If someone tells you to claim a number, they're thinking of the old form (IRS).

Skip it and you're withheld as single

If you don't turn in a properly completed W-4, your employer treats you as a single filer with no other entries (IRS).

About the estimator

It takes about 25 minutes, doesn't ask for your name, Social Security number or bank details, and doesn't save your answers (IRS).

Where it shows up

Your federal withholding shows on every pay stub. See Reading your pay stub.

Sources

  1. Internal Revenue Service Form W-4 (2026), Employee's Withholding Certificate (PDF)
  2. Internal Revenue Service About Form W-4
  3. Internal Revenue Service Tax Withholding Estimator
  4. Internal Revenue Service Updated Tax Withholding Estimator reflects One, Big, Beautiful Bill changes
  5. Internal Revenue Service How to take advantage of no tax on tips and overtime
  6. Internal Revenue Service Publication 15-T (2026), Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods

Lesson M6.2 · Last checked October 2, 2026 against the sources listed. See a mistake?