Form DE 4: Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate

Under Personal Information, enter First, Middle, Last Name and Social Security Number.

Under Address, enter the Address, City, State and ZIP Code.

The Filing Status boxes are Single or Married (with two or more incomes), Married (one income) and Head of Household.

If you have a working spouse or more than one job, it is best to check the box “Single or Married (with two or more incomes).”

When earnings come from more than one source, under-withholding may occur.

To qualify for Head of Household, you must be unmarried or legally separated from your spouse and pay more than 50 percent of the costs of maintaining a home for the entire year for yourself and your dependent(s) or other qualifying individuals.

Use Worksheet A for Regular Withholding allowances. Use other worksheets on the following pages as applicable.

Enter on 1a the Number of Regular Withholding Allowances (Worksheet A), on 1b the Number of allowances from the Estimated Deductions (Worksheet B) and on 1c the Total Number of Allowances you are claiming. Enter on line 2 the Additional amount, if any, you want withheld each pay period (if employer agrees), (Worksheet C).

When determining your withholding allowances, you must consider your personal situation: Do you claim allowances for dependents or blindness? Will you itemize your deductions? Do you have more than one income coming into the household?

Figure the total number of allowances you are entitled to claim on all jobs using only one DE 4 form.

Do not claim the same allowances with more than one employer.

In Worksheet A, enter 1 in (A) for an allowance for yourself, in (B) for an allowance for your spouse (if not separately claimed by your spouse), in (C) for an allowance for blindness of yourself and in (D) for an allowance for blindness of your spouse (if not separately claimed by your spouse).

In (E), enter the allowance(s) for dependent(s); do not include yourself or your spouse. In (F), add lines (A) through (E) and enter the total on line 1a of the DE 4.

Use Worksheet B only if you plan to itemize deductions, claim certain adjustments to income, or have a large amount of nonwage income not subject to withholding.

You may reduce the amount of tax withheld from your wages by claiming one additional withholding allowance for each $1,000, or fraction of $1,000, by which you expect your estimated deductions for the year to exceed your allowable standard deduction. (checked October 21, 2026)

On line 1, enter an estimate of your itemized deductions for California taxes for this tax year as listed in the schedules in the FTB Form 540.

On line 2, enter $11,412 if married filing joint with two or more allowances, unmarried head of household, or qualifying widow(er) with dependent(s) or $5,706 if single or married filing separately, dual income married, or married with multiple employers. (checked October 21, 2026)

On line 8, divide the amount on line 7 by $1,000, round any fraction to the nearest whole number and enter this number on line 1b of the DE 4. Complete Worksheet C, if needed, otherwise stop here. (checked October 21, 2026)

In Worksheet C, on line 1, enter estimate of total wages for tax year 2026.

On line 13, calculate the tax withheld and estimated to be withheld during 2026. Contact your employer to request the amount that will be withheld on your wages based on the marital status and number of withholding allowances you will claim for 2026. Multiply the estimated amount to be withheld by the number of pay periods left in the year. Add the total to the amount already withheld for 2026.

If line 14 is less than zero, you do not need to have additional taxes withheld. On line 15, divide line 14 by the number of pay periods remaining in the year and enter this figure on line 2 of the DE 4.

Your employer is not required to withhold the additional amount requested on line 2 of your DE 4.

If the amount withheld still results in an underpayment of state income taxes, you may need to file quarterly estimates on Form 540-ES with the FTB to avoid a penalty.

You may claim exempt from withholding California income tax if you meet both of the following conditions for exemption: 1. You did not owe any federal and state income tax last year, and 2. You do not expect to owe any federal and state income tax this year.

Check the box at line 3 to claim exemption from withholding for 2026 and certify you meet both conditions for exemption. Or check the box at line 4 to certify under penalty of perjury that you are not subject to California withholding and meet the conditions set forth under the Service Member Civil Relief Act, as amended by the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act and the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018.

Under the Member Service Civil Relief Act, you may be exempt from California income tax withholding on your wages if (i) your spouse is a member of the armed forces present in California in compliance with military orders; (ii) you are present in California solely to be with your spouse; and (iii) you maintain your domicile in another state. If you claim exemption under this act, check the box on Line 4. You may be required to provide proof of exemption upon request.

Under penalty of perjury, you certify that the number of withholding allowances claimed on this certificate does not exceed the number to which you are entitled or, if claiming exemption from withholding, that you are entitled to claim the exempt status.

Enter the Date next to Employee's Signature.

You may be fined $500 if you file, with no reasonable basis, a DE 4 that results in less tax being withheld than is properly allowable. (checked October 21, 2026)

The Employer's Section has Employer's Name and Address and California Employer Payroll Tax Account Number.

The DE 4 is for California Personal Income Tax (PIT) withholding purposes only. The DE 4 is used to compute the amount of taxes to be withheld from your wages, by your employer, to accurately reflect your state tax withholding obligation.

If your employer does not agree to withhold the additional amount, you may increase your withholdings as much as possible by using the “single” status with “zero” allowances.

Your withholding will usually be most accurate when all allowances are claimed on the DE 4 filed for the highest paying job and zero allowances are claimed for the others.

If you are not having federal and state income tax withheld this year but expect to have a tax liability next year, you are required to give your employer a new DE 4 by December 1.

Criminal penalties apply for willfully supplying false or fraudulent information or failing to supply information requiring an increase in withholding.