How changes to federal Form W-4 affect NYS withholding

For tax years 2020 or later, withholding allowances are no longer reported on federal Form W-4, Employees Withholding Certificate .

If the federal Form W-4 most recently submitted to an employer was for tax year 2019 or earlier, and the employee did not file Form IT-2104 , Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate , the employer may use the same number of allowances claimed on the federal Form W-4.

If an employee submits a federal Form W-4 to an employer for tax year 2020 or later, and the employee does not file Form IT-2104, the employer may use zero as the number of allowances.

Note: Employees should be encouraged to provide Form IT-2104 to their employers. Failure to provide Form IT-2104 may result in the wrong amount of tax withheld for New York State, New York City, and Yonkers.