California DE 4 vs the Federal W-4: Which Withholding Forms a New Hire Fills Out, and What Happens Without a DE 4

Filing status. The DE 4 offers “Single or Married (with two or more incomes),” “Married (one income)” and “Head of Household.” The form’s instructions say that when earnings come from more than one source under-withholding may occur, and that with a working spouse or more than one job the form points to the “Single or Married (with two or more incomes)” box, with all allowances figured on one DE 4 and claimed with one employer. Its words are: “Do not claim the same allowances with more than one employer”¹.

Line 1: allowances. Line 1a is the number of regular withholding allowances from Worksheet A, line 1b the number from the Estimated Deductions worksheet (Worksheet B), and line 1c the total¹. Worksheet A awards one allowance for the employee, one for a spouse (if not separately claimed by the spouse), one each for blindness for the employee and for the spouse, and an allowance for each dependent¹.

Worksheet B. Optional. An employee who expects to itemize deductions, claim certain adjustments to income or have a large amount of nonwage income can claim one additional allowance for each $1,000, or fraction of $1,000, by which the expected deductions exceed the standard deduction. The worksheet on the 2026 form (Rev. 56) prints $5,706 for single, married filing separately, dual-income married or married with multiple employers, and $11,412 for married filing jointly with two or more allowances, unmarried head of household or qualifying widow(er) with dependents¹.

Line 2: extra withholding. An additional amount per pay period, from Worksheet C, “if employer agrees.” The DE 4 notes an employer is not required to withhold that extra amount, and if the employer does not agree, the employee can use “single, zero allowances”¹.

Head of household. The DE 4 lists the conditions in its instructions: unmarried or legally separated and paying more than 50 percent of the cost of maintaining a home for the year for oneself and a dependent or other qualifying person. A married employee may check the box only if the spouse will not live with them at any time during the year, they furnish over half the cost of maintaining the home for themselves and a qualifying child or stepchild, and they will file a separate return¹.

The DE 4 does not carry a deadline on its face. What it says is that the W-4 “is used for federal income tax withholding only” and that “you must file the state form DE 4 to determine the appropriate California PIT withholding”¹. The EDD’s forms page describes the DE 4 as the form employees use to tell the employer how much state income tax to withhold⁴. The consequence of not filing one is stated on the form itself: the employer must use Single with zero withholding allowances¹.

For the employer, the EDD lists DE 71, which covers employer obligations for the DE 4, among its publications⁴. The form also notes that the EDD or the Franchise Tax Board may require an employer to submit a W-4 or DE 4 when necessary to administer the withholding tax programs¹. The EDD’s new-hire report (DE 34) can be sent as a copy of the W-4 or DE 4 with the start date, EDD account number and federal employer identification number added⁵.

To claim exempt, the DE 4 says to complete the federal Form W-4 and the state DE 4. Both conditions must be met: no federal and state income tax owed last year, and none expected this year. A DE 4 designating exempt must be submitted by February 15 each year to continue the exemption. An employee who is not having tax withheld this year but expects a tax liability next year is “required to give your employer a new DE 4 by December 1”¹.

Good to know The DE 4 has a separate box (line 4) for military spouses. Under the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, as the form describes it, an employee may be exempt from California withholding if the spouse is a member of the armed forces present in California under military orders, the employee is present solely to be with the spouse, and the employee keeps a domicile in another state. The form says proof may be required on request¹.

The federal side of exempt has its own date: the 2026 W-4 says a new form is needed by February 16, 2027, because February 15, 2027 is a federal holiday². The DE 4 date is stated as February 15 each year and the form does not mention a holiday adjustment¹.

The DE 4 says the “burden of proof rests with the employee to show the correct California income tax withholding.” It states that an employee may be fined $500 for filing, with no reasonable basis, a DE 4 that results in less tax being withheld than is properly allowable, and that criminal penalties apply for willfully supplying false or fraudulent information or failing to supply information requiring an increase in withholding. The form cites Unemployment Insurance Code section 13101 and Revenue and Taxation Code section 19176 for these provisions¹.

The DE 4 refers to the California Employer’s Guide (DE 44) for the income tax withholding tables and to the Franchise Tax Board for calculating tax liability and for information on the last California resident return (Form 540)¹.