First Day W-4: The Most Common Scenarios
First-day W-4 completion guide by common new employee situations
| Your Situation | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single, one job, no other income | Single | Skip | Skip | Skip | Sign |
| Married, this is only job, no other income | MFJ | Skip | Add $2K per child | Skip | Sign |
| Married, both spouses work | MFJ | Check box | Add $2K per child | Skip | Sign |
| Single with side freelance income | Single | Skip | Skip | 4a: net SE income + 4c: SE tax amount | Sign |
| Single with two W-2 jobs | Single | Check box (lower job) | Skip | Skip | Sign |
One Key Warning for New Employees
The most common first-job W-4 mistake: completing the form based on your prior year’s tax situation without accounting for your new salary. If your new job pays significantly more than your prior job, you may be in a higher tax bracket and the standard completion may under-withhold. Run the IRS estimator with your new salary before completing the W-4 if your income changed significantly.
Your first W-4 does not have to be perfect. You can submit a corrected W-4 to HR at any time. Focus on getting it approximately right on day one, then review the result with your first paycheck and update if needed.
Get Your New Employee W-4 Settings
Enter your new salary and personal situation to see exactly what to enter on each W-4 line.