Form W-4

Beginning with the 2020 Form W-4, employees are no longer able to request adjustments to their withholding using withholding allowances. Instead, using the new Form W-4, employees provide employers with amounts to increase or decrease the amount of taxes withheld and amounts to increase or decrease the amount of wage income subject to income tax withholding.

Form W-4 contains 5 steps. Every Form W-4 employers receive from an employee in 2020 or later should show a completed Step 1 (name, address, social security number (SSN), and filing status) and a dated signature in Step 5. Employees complete Steps 2, 3, and/or 4 only if relevant to their personal situations. Steps 2, 3, and 4 show adjustments that affect withholding calculations.

For employees who don’t complete any steps other than Step 1 and Step 5, employers withhold the amount based on the filing status, wage amounts, and payroll period. But see Exemption from withholding , later.

For employees completing one or more of Steps 2, 3, and/or 4 on Form W-4, adjustments are as follows.

Step 2.

If the employee checks the box in Step 2, the employer figures withholding from the “Form W-4, Step 2, Checkbox” column in the Percentage Method or Wage Bracket Method tables. This results in higher withholding for the employee. If the employee chooses one of the other options from this step, the higher withholding is included with any other additional tax amounts per pay period in Step 4(c).