# W-4 Forms Basics & Setup Everything you need to know about W-4 forms and the steps for initial configuration February 6, 2025 The W-4 form, also known as an Employee's Withholding Certificate, is filled out by employees when starting a new job to ensure that the correct amount of income tax is withheld from their paychecks. This form includes information about the employee's filing status, number of dependents, and any additional income. Every worker in the United States should fill out a federal W-4 form for federal income taxes `[1]`. --- # State Specific W-4 Forms The following states have state-specific W-4 forms in addition to the federal W-4 form. If you have employees who reside in one of these states, then they will also need to fill out that state-specific form: The states that require a state-specific W-4 forms are: - Alabama - Arizona - Arkansas - California - Connecticut - District of Columbia - Georgia - Hawaii - Illinois - Indiana - Iowa - Kansas - Kentucky - Louisiana - Maine - Maryland - Massachusetts - Michigan - Mississippi - Missouri - New Jersey - New York - North Carolina - Ohio - Oklahoma - Oregon - Pennsylvania - Rhode Island - Vermont - Virginia - West Virginia - Wisconsin All other states have no income tax. Therefore, they do not have a state-specific W-4 form. --- # Optional State W-4 Forms The Fountain I-9 Center also supports several optional state W-4 forms such as forms for military spouse withholding exemptions or certificates of nonresidence. These optional forms will be automatically assigned to workers who reside in the appropriate state but will be labeled as optional. These optional forms are not required to be completed by workers in their Worker Portal. The states and their additional optional W-4 forms are: - Alabama - A4 form in Spanish - Military Spouse Tax Exemption - Arizona - Resident employed outside of Arizona - Reduced Withholding - Withholding Exemption Certificate - Arkansas - Employee Withholding Exemption Certificate - Military Employee Withholding Exemption - Military Spouse Withholding Exemption - California - Employee Withholding Allowance Certificate in Spanish - Colorado - Military Spouse Affidavit of Exemption - Employee Withholding Certificate - Connecticut - Employee Withholding Certificate - D.C. - Certificate of Nonresidence - Hawaii - Nonresidence in State of Hawaii - Idaho - Military Spouse Withholding Exemption - Illinois - Statement of Nonresidence - Indiana: Military Spouse Tax Exemption - Iowa - Statement of Nonresidence in Iowa - Employee Withholding Allowance Certificate - Kansas - Allocation of Withholding Tax - Louisiana - Exemption from Withholding Income Tax - Maryland - Military Spouse Tax Exemption - Massachusetts - Military Spouse Withholding - Minnesota - Affidavit of Residency for MI & ND Residents - Missouri - Certificate of Nonresidence or Withholding Tax - Withholding Affidavit for MO Residents - Nebraska - Nonresident Tax Withholding - New Jersey - Certificate of Nonresidence in NJ - New Mexico - Military Spouse Withholding Exemption - New York - Withholding Exemption - Military Spouse Withholding Exemption - START-UP NY Program Withholding Exemption - Paid Family Leave Waiver - North Carolina - Withholding Allowance - North Dakota - Military Spouse Withholding Exemption - Withholding Exemption for MN & MT Residents - Oklahoma - Military Spouse Withholding Exemption - Oregon - W-4 form in Spanish - Metro & MultCo OPT Form in English and in Spanish - Metro OPT Form in English and in Spanish - Pennsylvania - Non-withholding Application - Puerto Rico - Withholding Exemption - Virginia - Out-of-state Tax Credit - West Virginia - Withholding Exemption - Wisconsin - Nonresident Withholding - Military Spouse Withholding Exemption - Employee Withholding Agreement **Important Note:** While there is no official deadline for employees to complete W-4 forms, it is recommended that W-4 forms are completed before an employee’s first paycheck. Failure to do so could result in over or underpaying when filing taxes. --- # W-4 Tax Reciprocity Many states also require a reciprocal agreement for out-of-state employees. A reciprocal agreement is an agreement between two states that allows employees who work in one state but live in another to request an exemption from tax withholding in their employment state. The list of states with tax reciprocity agreements can be reviewed in the table below: | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | **State Employee Works In** | **States in Agreement** | **Certificate/Form to Use** | | Arizona | California, Indiana, Oregon, Virginia | **[Form WEC](https://azdor.gov/forms/withholding-forms/withholding-exemption-certificate)**
Withholding Exemption Certificate | | District of Columbia | All nonresidents who work in DC can claim exemption from withholding for the DC income tax. | **[Form D-4A](https://otr.cfo.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/otr/publication/attachments/2018%20D-4A.pdf)**
Certificate of Nonresidence in the District of Columbia | | Illinois | Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Wisconsin | **[Form IL-W-5-NR](https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/forms/withholding/Documents/currentyear/il-w-5-nr.pdf)**
Employee's Statement of Nonresidence in Illinois | | Indiana | Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin | **[Form WH-47](https://forms.in.gov/Download.aspx?id=2419)**
Certificate of Residence | | Iowa | Illinois | **[Form 44-016](https://revenue.iowa.gov/taxes/tax-guidance/withholding-tax/iowa-withholding-tax-information)**
Employee's Statement of Nonresidence in Iowa | | Kentucky | Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Virginia | **[Form 42A809](https://revenue.ky.gov/Forms/42A809.pdf)**
Certificate of Residence | | Maryland | District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia | **[Form MW 507](https://www.marylandtaxes.gov/statepayroll/payroll-forms.php)**
Employee's Maryland Withholding Exemption Certificate | | Michigan | Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota | **[Form MI-W4](https://www.michigan.gov/taxes/biz-forms/withholding/2024-withholding-tax-forms)**
Employee's Michigan Withholding Exemption Certificate | | Minnesota | Michigan, North Dakota | **[Form MWR](https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/2019-12/mwr_20.pdf)**
Reciprocity Exemption/Affidavit of Residency | | Montana | North Dakota | **[Form NR-2](https://montana.servicenowservices.com/citizen/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0013514)**
Employee Certificate of North Dakota Residence | | New Jersey | Pennsylvania | **[Form NJ-165](https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/pdf/current/nj165.pdf)**
Employee's Certificate of Nonresidence in New Jersey | | North Dakota | Minnesota, Montana | **[Form NDW-R](https://www.tax.nd.gov/sites/www/files/documents/forms/business/ndwrfillable.pdf)**
Reciprocity exemption from withholding for qualifying Minnesota and Montana residents working in North Dakota | | Ohio | Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia | **[Form IT-4](https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/tax.ohio.gov/forms/employer_withholding/generic/wth-it4-combined-fi.pdf)**
Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate | | Pennsylvania | Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia | **[Form REV-419](https://www.revenue.pa.gov/FormsandPublications/FormsforBusinesses/EmployerWithholding/Documents/rev-419.pdf)**
Employee's Nonwithholding Application Certificate | | Virginia | Kentucky, Maryland, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia | **[Form VA-4](https://tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/taxforms/withholding/any/va-4-any.pdf)**
Personal Exemption Worksheet | | West Virginia | Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia | **[Form WV/IT-104](https://tax.wv.gov/Documents/Withholding/it104.pdf)**
Employee's Withholding Exemption Certificate | | Wisconsin | Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan | **[Form W-220](https://www.revenue.wi.gov/TaxForms2017through2019/w-220f.pdf)**
Nonresident Employee's Withholding Reciprocity Declaration | The Fountain I-9 Center supports W-4 Tax Reciprocity. Learn more about turning on this feature later in this article. --- # W-4 Configuration Steps To configure your W-4 forms, you'll first create an onboarding task and then assign it to your workers. Follow the steps below to create your W-4 task: 1. Click **Onboard** in the left sidebar. 2. Click **Add Flow** in the top right. 3. Type a **Flow Name** and **Flow Description** as well as select the **Task flow type**. Click **Next**. 4. Click **\+ Add a task** and select **W-4**. 5. Type a **Title**, which will be visible to workers in their Worker Portal, and adjust the **Estimated task completion time** if desired (the default time is five minutes). 6. If desired, you can add additional tasks to this flow by clicking **\+ Add a task**. When all tasks have been added, click **Next**. 7. Assign the **segment of workers** that will receive this task or assign **individual workers**. Click **Next**. 8. Customize any notifications, set a deadline to complete, set reminder messages, and/or a redirect URL. 9. Click **Publish and send notifications** to finish. ## W-4 Tax Reciprocity Setting To turn on W-4 Tax Reciprocity support, Administrators will navigate to the I-9 Settings page by clicking **I-9 Center** in the left side panel and then clicking **Settings**. Turn on the toggle under the **W-4 State Tax Reciprocity** section. This will automatically assign W-4 forms based on state reciprocity agreements for workers who live and work in two different states. When workers access their W-4 task in their Worker Portal, they will have the option to either opt-in or opt-out of reciprocity. This impacts which W-4 forms are assigned to them as mandatory vs optional. You can also access a list of state reciprocity agreements in this section. **This setting is not visible by default.** Reach out to your Fountain Customer Success contact or [support@fountain.com](mailto:support@fountain.com) if you are interested in using this feature. --- # Sources `[1]` [IRS overview of the W-4 form](https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc753)