Step 1: Your personal information and filing status
Everyone completes this step. Enter your name, address, and Social Security number exactly as they appear on your Social Security card, then check one filing status:
- Single
- Married filing separately
- Married filing jointly
- Head of household
Your filing status sets the standard deduction and tax brackets your employer’s withholding tables use, so it’s worth getting right.
Step 2: Multiple jobs or a working spouse
Complete Step 2 only if you hold more than one job at once, or you’re married filing jointly, and your spouse also works. You have three ways to handle it:
- Use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator for the most accurate result.
- Fill out the Multiple Jobs Worksheet on page 3.
- Check a box on both W-4s instead of doing any math (only if you have exactly two jobs and the pay from the lower-paying job is more than half the pay from the higher-paying job).
Skip this step entirely if it doesn’t apply to you.
Step 3: Claiming dependents
If you’re eligible to claim dependents, use Step 3 to account for the Child Tax Credit and Credit for Other Dependents. For 2025 and 2026, the W-4 uses $2,200 for each qualifying child under 17 and $500 for each other dependent.
Step 4: Other income, deductions, and extra withholding
This step is optional and covers three boxes:
- 4(a) for income that won’t have tax withheld, like interest or retirement income
- 4(b) for deductions, including the Deductions Worksheet and applicable deductions for qualified tips, qualified overtime compensation, and the additional deduction for taxpayers age 65 or older
- 4(c) for any flat extra amount you want withheld each pay period
Step 5: Sign and submit
Sign and date the form. Hand it to your employer, not the IRS; they keep it on file and use it to calculate your withholding starting with your next paycheck.
When to consider updating your W-4
- You start a new job
- You get married or divorced
- Your number of dependents changes
- You start or stop a second job
- Your income or deductions change significantly
