How to fill out a W-4 (2026)

When do I need a new W-4?

• When you start a job. If you don’t give your employer one, they withhold as if you’re single with no other adjustments.
• Whenever you want to change your withholding, for example after getting married, having a child, or starting a second job.
• Every year only if you claim to be exempt from withholding.

You don’t need to fill in a new one each year otherwise.

Step 1: your details

Your name, address, Social Security number and filing status: single or married filing separately, married filing jointly, or head of household. Your filing status sets the tax rates and standard deduction your withholding is based on.

Step 2: more than one job, or a working spouse

Fill this in if you have two or more jobs at the same time, or you’re married filing jointly and your spouse works. Otherwise too little tax is usually withheld, because each employer withholds as if their pay were your only income. Choose one of three options:

1. Use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator online, which works out an exact extra amount for Step 4(c).
2. Use the Multiple Jobs Worksheet on the form, and put the result in Step 4(c).
3. If there are only two jobs in total and they pay about the same, tick the box in Step 2(c) on the W-4 for both jobs.

Fill in Steps 3 and 4(b) on one W-4 only, ideally the one for your highest-paying job.

Step 3: children and other dependents

If your income is $200,000 or less ($400,000 if married filing jointly), enter:

• $2,200 for each child under 17 (up from $2,000)
• $500 for each other dependent, such as an older child or a relative you support

The child tax credit calculator shows what the credit is worth for your family.

Add them up and enter the total. Your employer then withholds that much less over the year: $4,400 for two children is about $169 less per paycheck if you’re paid every two weeks.

Step 4: other adjustments

• 4(a) Other income: income that isn’t from a job, such as interest, dividends or retirement income, if you’d like tax on it withheld from your pay rather than paying it separately.

• 4(b) Deductions: use the Deductions Worksheet on the form if you expect deductions beyond the standard deduction. The 2026 worksheet has lines for:

  • qualified tips, up to $25,000
  • qualified overtime, up to $12,500 ($25,000 for married couples filing jointly)
  • car loan interest on a qualifying new car, up to $10,000
  • $6,000 for each person 65 or older
  • itemized deductions such as mortgage interest and state and local taxes (up to $40,400 in 2026), and a new deduction for cash gifts to charity of up to $1,000 ($2,000 joint) if you don’t itemize

  The tips, overtime, car loan and senior deductions shrink at higher incomes. To see whether your itemized deductions beat the standard deduction, and by how much, use our itemized deduction calculator.

• 4(c) Extra withholding: an extra amount to take from each paycheck, for example from Step 2 or to avoid a tax bill when you file.

Exempt from withholding

The 2026 form has a checkbox for this, instead of writing “Exempt” on the form. You can only claim it if you owed no federal income tax for 2025 and expect to owe none for 2026. It lasts for one year: to stay exempt, give your employer a new W-4 by February 16, 2027.

Even when exempt, Social Security and Medicare are still taken from your pay.

Step 5: sign it

Sign and date the form and give it to your employer, not the IRS. Your employer has to start using it within about a month.

Check your withholding

Our W-4 calculator shows what your W-4 withholds from each paycheck, whether that leaves you a refund or a bill, and what to enter in each step for the refund you want. To see your whole paycheck, use our paycheck calculator, or check this year’s refund with our tax refund calculator or the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator.