Form W-4 Essentials: Ensuring Accurate Employee Withholdings in 2026

Webinar Description 

The Employee Withholding Certificate, commonly known as the Form W-4, is an IRS form used by an employer to withhold the correct federal income tax from an employee’s pay.  

Starting in 2020 the W-4 differed significantly from the prior versions of the form. Prior to 2020 Form W-4  used withholding allowances to determine the amount of tax to withhold from employee wages. W-4 Forms issued for years after 2019 focus on the employee’s expected tax situation for the year. The forms feature adjustments for multiple jobs, expected tax credits, such as the child and dependent credits, nonwage income, and various deductions, including those enacted under the OBBBA such as qualified tips and qualified overtime. 

A W-4 remains in effect until the employee submits a new form to the employer. Where older W-4s remain in effect, an employer may be faced with using different computation procedures to compute withholding for the older Forms.   

IRS Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods, provides tax tables and worksheets to accommodate tax computations for both prior to 2020 W-4 Forms and 2020 and later W-4 Forms.

In this practical webinar, you will learn how employees can use the income tax withholding assistant in completing a valid Form W-4 and how the Publication 15-T tables and the IRS Income Tax Withholding Assistant for Employers are used to compute withholding using either the 2020 or later W-4 Form information or the information from prior year W-4 Forms that are still in effect. 
 

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the employer’s legal obligation to withhold tax.
• Know which employees are required to use the 2026 W-4.
• Know how to calculate withholding using both the current W-4 version and prior year W-4 Form
• Know how to use the IRS Income Tax Withholding Assistant for Employers
• Know what must or must not be included on each line of Form W-4 and how to identify invalid Forms.
• Know how to deal with special problems and situations related to Form W-4 such as non-resident alien forms, lock in letters, and invalid and questionable employee submissions.
• Be aware of the penalties for non-compliance.
• Know the record retention requirements.
   

Why Attend 

The current Form W-4 does not use withholding allowances, so the method for computing withholding is different from versions prior to 2020. Existing employees who do not want to change their withholding amount may leave prior Forms W-4 – Withholding Allowance Certificate in effect indefinitely. Payroll professionals will have to know how use both withholding calculation methods.  
 

Areas Covered 

• The legal requirement that the employer withhold income tax from employee compensation.
• Information provided on a 2020 or later W-4 and how it is used.
• 2026 Form W-4 line by line
• Worksheets for employees including adjustments for the new OBBBA deductions.
• How to compute withholding for the current year and any prior year W-4 Forms still in effect.
• How to use the Income Tax Withholding Assistant for Employers to facilitate manual computations.
• How to use the withholding tables. Example computations.
• The special instructions for non-resident aliens.
• State withholding certificates.
• When employees are required to revise W-4 Forms.
• Requirements for electronic W-4 Forms.
• Penalties for failing to withhold or deposit tax and reporting errors.
• Record retention requirements – how long must an employer keep the forms.
   

Target Audience

• Payroll Professionals and Payroll Service Providers
• Tax Compliance Officers, Auditors, and Compliance Personnel
• Enrolled Agents and Public Accountants
• Employee Benefits Administrators
• Officers and Managers with Payroll or Tax Compliance Oversight
• Company / Business Owners
• Managers/ Supervisors
• Public Agency Managers

Ask your question directly from our expert during the Q&A session following the live event.