Federal Form W-4s provided to employers prior to tax year 2020

In determining the tax to be deducted and withheld, you may allow the same number of withholding allowances for New York State, New York City, and Yonkers purposes as the number the employee claimed on the federal Form W-4. However, certain allowances for the employee and their spouse permitted on federal Form W-4 are not allowed on Form IT-2104. Therefore, to ensure greater accuracy in withholding amounts, all employees should complete and give you a New York State Form IT-2104 or Form IT-2104.1 (whichever is applicable).

If an employee has claimed one or more withholding allowances on federal Form W-4 that are based on federal tax credits, they must complete a New York Form IT-2104 omitting those allowances for federal tax credits. The employee may instead be entitled to claim additional withholding allowances for certain New York State tax credits and deductions (see Form IT-2104).

If you receive notification from the IRS that a federal Form W-4 for an employee is defective, the number of exemptions allowed for New York withholding purposes is limited to the number of withholding exemptions specified in the IRS notice, less the number of withholding exemptions allowed for federal credits, plus the number of additional New York withholding allowances that the employee is entitled to (and that is claimed on a properly completed Form IT-2104).

If the federal change to federal Form W-4 affects the allowances claimed on a Form IT-2104 that is on file with the employer, the employee should complete and submit to their employer, a new Form IT-2104 reflecting the corrected number of allowable exemptions.