State and local withholding certificates

How Gusto handles the Federal Form W-4

We automatically generate and store a Federal W-4 with the federal withholding elections made by each employee.

How Gusto handles state and local withholding forms—for income tax

Different from the Federal Form W-4 that Gusto automatically generates and stores, employers are required to have their new employees physically sign the state and local version of the Form W-4 outside of Gusto, and store it for your records.

Heads up: Some states may have special requirements such as collecting forms annually (for instance county information in Indiana), or require special forms for military spouses or non-residents. Check with the state website for more information.

Employees, as well as admins, can still enter or change the state and local withholding elections right from their Gusto account, but the forms must be signed and stored manually.

If an employee requests a change to their state and/or local withholding instructions:

Have your employee physically re-sign the state/local version of the Form W-4, and store the new document for your records.
Have your employees update their state W-4 (withholding elections) in Gusto. They can do so by heading to the Job & pay section of their employee account, scrolling to the "[State] Taxes" headline, and clicking edit.
- As an admin, you can update an employee's withholding elections by visiting their employee profile, scrolling to the "[State] Taxes" headline of the Job & pay tab, and clicking edit.

The following states do not have income taxes and therefore do not require state withholding certificates:

Alaska
Florida
Nevada
New Hampshire
Tennessee
Texas
South Dakota
Washington
Wyoming

The following states use the federal Form W-4:

Colorado
New Mexico
North Dakota
Utah

The following states require that you collect and store a separate state-specific withholding form for each of your employees:

State	Withholding Certificate(s)
Alabama	Form A-4, Employee’s Withholding Tax Exemption Certificate
Arizona	Arizona Form A-4, Employee’s Arizona Withholding Election
Arkansas	Form AR4EC, State of Arkansas Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate
California	Form DE 4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
Colorado	Form DR004, Employee’s Withholding Certificate
Connecticut	Form CT-W4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate
Delaware	Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate
Georgia	Form G-4, State of Georgia Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
Hawaii	Form HW-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance and Status Certificate
Idaho	Form ID W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
Illinois	Form IL-W-4, Employee’s and other Payee’s Illinois Withholding Allowance Certificate and Instructions
Indiana	Form WH-4, Employee’s Withholding Exemption and County Status Certificate; more information about the form can be found in this article.
Iowa	Form IA W-4, Employee Withholding Allowance Certificate
Kansas	Form K-4, Kansas Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
Kentucky	Form K-4, Kentucky Withholding Certificate
Louisiana	Form L-4, Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate
Maine	Form W-4ME, Maine Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate Scroll and click on the Employment Taxes section to find the current year’s Form W-4ME.
Maryland	Form MW507, Employee’s Maryland Withholding Exemption Certificate
Massachusetts	Form M-4, Massachusetts Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate
Michigan (state)	State: Form MI-W4, Employee’s Michigan Withholding Exemption Certificate Locals: Varies by city
Minnesota	Form W-4MN, Minnesota Employee Withholding Allowance/Exemption Certificate
Mississippi	Form 89-350, Mississippi Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate
Missouri	Form MO W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate
Montana	Form MW-4, Montana Employee’s Withholding Allowance and Exemption Certificate
Nebraska	Form W-4N, Employee’s Nebraska Withholding Allowance Certificate
New Jersey	Form NJ-W4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
New Mexico	For New Mexico withholding tax, you should use a federal W-4 and write across the top of that form: “For New Mexico Withholding Tax Only.”
New York	Form IT-2104, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
North Carolina	Form NC-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
North Dakota	Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate
Ohio	Form IT 4, Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate
Oklahoma	Form OK-W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
Oregon	Form OR-W-4, Oregon Employee’s Withholding Statement and Exemption Certificate
Pennsylvania	State: n/a - state assesses a flat income tax rate Locals: Residency Certification Form Local Earned Income Tax Withholding
Rhode Island	RI W-4, State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
South Carolina	SC W-4, South Carolina Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
Utah	Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate
Vermont	Form W-4VT, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
Virginia	Form VA-4, Employee’s Virginia Income Tax Withholding Exemption Certificate
Washington D.C.	Form D-4, DC Withholding Allowance Certificate
West Virginia	Form WV/IT-104, West Virginia Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate
Wisconsin	Form WT-4, Employee’s Wisconsin Withholding Exemption Certificate/New Hire Reporting