What's covered in this guide?
What is a withholding certificate?
A withholding certificate tells your employer how much tax to withhold from your paycheck. The most well-known example is the federal W-4, but most states that levy an income tax have their own version as well. Workforce.com collects and manages these forms digitally so employees and employers can stay compliant.
When is a withholding certificate required?
Federal W-4: Every employee must complete a federal W-4 when they start a new job. This form determines how much federal income tax is withheld from each paycheck based on your filing status, dependents, and other factors. Payroll cannot be processed for employees without a federal W-4
State forms: If you work or live in a state that has income tax, you'll generally need to complete that state's withholding certificate too. The specific forms that appear for an employee depend on:
Where you work — the state (and sometimes city) where your work location is based
Where you live — your home state, if your employer has a tax obligation (nexus) there
Whether the state has income tax — nine states have no income tax and therefore have no withholding certificate: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming
In many cases, both work-state and home-state certificates are required.
Withholding certificates are part of the employee onboarding process. However, if an employee is missing a state withholding form, the default withholding settings are used, and payroll can still be processed.
Which forms show up for which employees?
Workforce.com automatically determines which withholding certificates an employee needs based on their work location and home address. Here's how it works:
Work jurisdictions are pulled from the tax jurisdictions assigned to the employee's work location.
Home jurisdictions are pulled from the employee's profile, but only if the employer has a nexus (tax presence) in that state.
The combined set of jurisdictions determines which forms appear for the employee.
For example, an employee who lives in New Jersey but works at an office in New York would see a federal W-4, a New York IT-2104, and a New Jersey NJ-W4 (if the employer also has a location in New Jersey).
How to fill out a withholding certificate
Employees should update their withholding certificates when their personal or financial situation changes — for example, after getting married, having a child, starting a second job, or moving to a new state. Updated certificates take effect on future pay runs.
Finding your forms
From the Workforce.com mobile app, click the profile icon in the top-right corner of the screen to open the Settings page. From there go to Tax Forms. You'll see a list of all the withholding certificates that apply to you, organized by jurisdiction (e.g., "Federal W-4", "Georgia G-4"). A checkmark appears next to any form you've already completed.
Filling out the form
Each withholding certificate is a single-page form. While the specific fields vary by state, most forms include:
Filing status — Your tax filing status (e.g., Single, Married Filing Jointly, Head of Household)
Allowances or exemptions — The number of allowances you're claiming, which affects how much tax is withheld
Additional withholding — An optional dollar amount to withhold on top of the standard calculation
Exemption status — Whether you're claiming exemption from withholding (for employees who expect to owe no tax)
Some states have additional or unique fields. For example, New York's IT-2104 has separate sections for New York City and Yonkers withholding, Michigan's MI W-4 includes fields for city-level taxes, and Arizona allows employees to elect a withholding percentage rather than using allowances.
Submitting
For most state forms, review your entries and tap Submit at the bottom of the page. For the federal W-4, the form submits automatically once you provide your electronic signature.
After submitting, you'll be taken to a summary page showing the values you entered. You can edit and resubmit at any time.
State reciprocity agreements
Some states have reciprocity agreements that allow employees who live in one state but work in another to pay income tax only to their home state. When reciprocity applies, the employee can indicate this on their work-state withholding certificate, and the employer will withhold taxes for the home state instead.
This is common in regions where people frequently commute across state lines, such as the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.
For example, an employee who lives in Pennsylvania but works in New Jersey can indicate on their NJ-W4 that they are a Pennsylvania resident. The employer then withholds Pennsylvania income tax instead of New Jersey income tax.
If an employee does not elect reciprocity, the employer will withhold taxes for the state where the work is performed, and the employee may need to file in both states and claim a credit.
For a full list of which states have reciprocity agreements, see the Tax Foundation's guide to state reciprocity agreements.
Updating employee certificates on their behalf
The withholding certificate is a legal form that should be completed by the employee. However, there may be some instances where an employer wants to make an update for an employee and can do so legally. For example, if the employee has provided a physical copy to the employer that differs from the digital version. See the Update Employee Payroll Information as an Admin help guide for more information on how to do this, but always be sure you are staying compliant.