How to fill out NY IT-2104 (withholding), line by line
New York Form IT-2104 tells your employer how much New York State income tax—and, when applicable, New York City and Yonkers tax—to withhold from each paycheck. It is not a year-end tax return. Before entering allowance numbers, first determine whether the form’s simple 0-entry route fits you or whether you need the official IT-2104-I worksheet.
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What NY Form IT-2104 does before you start
Complete the 2026 Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate as an employee and give it to your employer. Your employer uses your residency, marital-status selection, and allowances to calculate withholding for New York State and, where relevant, New York City and Yonkers. Keep a copy after you submit it. The certificate is the instruction your employer uses during the year, so settle the correct route before treating the numbered lines as routine blanks.
Use the 2026 form and instructions for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026. If you used a prior IT-2104 worksheet or charts, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance says to complete a new 2026 certificate and give it to your employer. The key choice comes before lines 1 and 2: decide whether the narrow 0-entry route applies or whether the worksheet supplies your totals.
Start with the top employee information, filing-status, and residency fields.
Choose the route for lines 1 and 2 before entering an allowance number.
Complete lines 3–5 only when you are requesting additional withholding per pay period.
Sign, date, give the completed certificate to your employer, and retain your copy.
Decide whether you need the IT-2104-I worksheet
The simple 0-entry route
The form gives one straightforward route: if you are single, have one job, and have zero dependents, enter 0 on line 1 and on line 2 if line 2 applies to you. This is a specific route, not a general instruction to skip the worksheet whenever allowance calculations seem inconvenient.
When the official worksheet or chart is the next step
Married taxpayers, heads of household, and people who expect to itemize deductions or claim tax credits must complete the worksheet in IT-2104-I before entering the applicable allowance totals. The worksheet does not simply create a general estimate: Part 1 produces the New York State and Yonkers result for line 1, while Part 4 produces the New York City result for line 2. You may not claim a withholding allowance for yourself or, if married, your spouse.
Part 1 is where the instructions collect the allowance items that may apply to your state return, including dependents, listed credits, estimated federal adjustments to income, and—in the stated cases—the Part 2 itemized-deduction result or Part 3 Employer Compensation Expense Program result. Add Part 1 lines 6 through 18 to reach line 19. Part 4 is narrower: it uses the line 6 amount and the applicable amounts from lines 15 through 18 to produce the New York City total on line 31.
If you have more than one job, submit a separate IT-2104 to each employer and do not claim more allowances in total than you are entitled to. The instructions include separate rules for particular multiple-job and married-couple situations. For married couples with both spouses working, or married taxpayers with more than one job, Part 5 can apply when combined wages are from $107,650 to $2,263,265. Part 6 covers qualifying single or head-of-household taxpayers with more than one job in that range. These charts produce an additional withholding amount for line 3—not another allowance count.
Do not use this certificate for an exemption claim
You cannot use IT-2104 to claim an exemption from withholding. The instructions direct employees seeking an exemption to Form IT-2104-E, IT-2104-IND, or IT-2104-MS, as applicable.
Fill out your information, filing status, and residency
At the top of the employee certificate, enter the requested name, permanent home address, and Social Security number. These fields identify the employee whose withholding directions the employer will use. They are separate from the choices that describe your withholding situation.
Status and local-residency checkboxes
Choose the filing-status box that fits your situation: Single or Head of household, Married, or Married, but withhold at higher single rate. The form has a specific instruction for a married person who is legally separated: mark Single or Head of household. This is a form instruction for the withholding certificate, not a determination of your personal tax filing status.
Then answer both residency questions separately: whether you are a New York City resident and whether you are a Yonkers resident. On this form, New York City includes the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. These answers matter because the certificate can instruct withholding for State, City, and Yonkers taxes; they do not replace the allowance or additional-withholding entries below.
Lines 1–5: allowances and additional withholding
Lines 1 and 2 are allowance totals; lines 3 through 5 are dollar requests for extra withholding. A withholding allowance is an exemption that lowers the New York income tax amount withheld from your paycheck. More allowances mean a smaller New York income tax deduction, while fewer allowances mean a larger deduction.
Lines 1 and 2: where the allowance totals come from
Do not interchange these results. Complete IT-2104-I Part 1 to calculate the New York State and Yonkers allowance total, then transfer its line 19 result to IT-2104 line 1. If New York City withholding applies, Part 4 calculates the City total: it brings worksheet line 6 to line 29, combines lines 15 through 18 on line 30, and totals them on line 31. Transfer line 31—not line 19—to certificate line 2.
Use the worksheet or official chart result designated for the certificate line.
Certificate line | Source result |
|---|---|
1: State and Yonkers, if applicable | IT-2104-I Part 1, line 19 |
2: New York City | IT-2104-I Part 4, line 31 |
3: additional State withholding | Applicable Part 5 or Part 6 chart result |
Some worksheet inputs have their own official procedures. Part 2 applies only if you expect to itemize deductions on your state return. It compares estimated New York itemized deductions with the applicable standard deduction; the excess is divided by $1,000, with any fraction dropped, and the result feeds Part 1 line 18. Part 3 applies only to a covered employee of an employer that elected to participate in the Employer Compensation Expense Program; its line 28 result feeds Part 1 line 17. Follow those named IT-2104-I parts rather than converting a deduction or program amount into a personal allowance estimate outside the worksheet.
Lines 3, 4, and 5: ask for extra withholding per pay period
Use these lines under a special agreement with your employer when you want an additional amount withheld each pay period. Line 3 is for New York State, line 4 for New York City, and line 5 for Yonkers. An official Part 5 or Part 6 chart result, when one applies, goes on line 3. It is an additional withholding amount, not an allowance total.
Negative allowances and nonweekly pay
If the worksheet gives a negative allowance for line 1 or line 2 and your employer cannot accommodate negative allowances, enter 0 and use the additional-withholding instructions. For each negative allowance in that situation, the weekly reference amounts are $1.85 for State withholding, $0.80 for City withholding, and 16.75% of the State amount for Yonkers. These figures are for weekly payroll. If you are paid biweekly, double the calculated amount; adjust the weekly amount for another pay frequency as well.
Sign the certificate, give it to your employer, and recognize employer-only fields
Review the employee entries and the allowance or additional-withholding amounts you entered.
Sign and date the certificate.
Give it to your employer and keep a copy for your records.
Your signature certifies that you are entitled to the allowances claimed. The form warns that a false statement that decreases wage withholding may result in a $500 penalty and possible criminal penalties. That is why the certification belongs after you have worked through the route and entries that apply to you.
What the employer-only reporting section means
The lower section is not part of the ordinary employee completion path. The employer completes its name, address, and employer identification number only when sending a copy to the Tax Department. Box A concerns an employee claiming more than 14 New York State allowances. Box B concerns a new hire or rehire and asks for the first date the employee performed paid services, whether dependent health insurance benefits are available, and, if so, the date the employee qualifies for coverage. Employers should use the Box A and Box B instructions in IT-2104-I for the reporting procedure.
Employer reporting boundary
For Box B, the employer submits the completed form within 20 days of hiring, by mail or through the New York New Hire Online Reporting Center. Independent contractors with contracts exceeding $2,500 are reported through that online reporting process, not on Form IT-2104.
NY IT-2104 questions that come up after you fill it out
How often should I submit a new IT-2104?
Complete IT-2104 when you start a new job. Review the certificate you submitted for each job every year, and submit a new one whenever a change in your tax situation changes the allowances you may claim.
What if I only submitted a federal W-4?
If you submit a federal Form W-4 for tax year 2020 or later but do not submit New York Form IT-2104, your employer may use zero allowances. The instructions warn that this can result in the wrong amount of New York State, New York City, or Yonkers tax being withheld.
Sources and how this page was made
This guide explains the official sources listed below in plain language. Displayed amounts, limits, percentages, and timing rules come from that material.
Source revision reflected in this guide: Instructions: 2026.