How to Complete the Delaware W-4: Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate

To fill out the Delaware W-4, download Form DE-W4 from the Division of Revenue, work through the allowance worksheet using your filing status, dependents, age, and any itemized deductions or non-wage income, then write the total on the certificate at the top of the form, sign it, and give it to your employer’s payroll or HR department. The whole thing takes about ten minutes if you have your household details handy. You do not send it to the state; your employer keeps it on file and uses the allowance number to calculate how much Delaware income tax to withhold from each paycheck.¹

Delaware uses its own form because the state still runs a personal-exemption withholding system, even after the federal W-4 dropped that approach in 2020. Anyone hired in Delaware on or after January 1, 2020 needs to file a DE-W4, and anyone who wants to change their existing withholding does too.¹

What to Have in Front of You

The DE-W4 is a free PDF from the Division of Revenue.² It is not fillable on screen, so print it and use a pen. Before starting, gather:

Your Social Security number, exactly as it appears on your card
Your filing status: Single, Married Filing Jointly, or Married Filing Separately
The number of dependents you expect to claim on your Delaware return, not counting your spouse
An estimate of your itemized deductions, if you think they will beat the Delaware standard deduction ($3,250 single, $6,500 married filing jointly)³
An estimate of any non-wage income (interest, dividends, rental income, freelance earnings) that won’t have Delaware tax withheld automatically

Working Through the Allowance Worksheet

The bottom portion of the form is the resident withholding allowance worksheet (labeled DE-W4R). It has two parts. The first part, Lines A through G, is where most people stop. The second part, Lines 1 through 10, only matters if you itemize or have significant non-wage income.

Lines A Through G: Personal Exemptions

Each line asks a simple question. Add them up on Line G.

Line A — Yourself. Enter 1 if no one else claims you as a dependent. Enter 2 if you are 60 or older.
Line B — Spouse. Enter 1 if you are married and no one else claims your spouse. Enter 2 if your spouse is 60 or older.
Line C — Child or dependent care credit. Enter 1 if you qualify for the credit for one child or dependent, or 2 for two or more.
Line D — Other dependents. Enter the number you will claim on your state return, not counting your spouse.
Line E — Yourself, age or blindness. Enter 1 if you are 65 or older or blind. Enter 2 if you are 65 or older and blind.
Line F — Spouse, age or blindness. Same rules as Line E, applied to your spouse.
Line G — Total. Add Lines A through F.

A married couple in their 40s with two children would typically show 1 on Line A, 1 on Line B, 2 on Line D, and land at 4 on Line G, plus anything from Line C if they pay for child care.²

Lines 1 Through 10: Deductions and Adjustments

Skip this section if you take the standard deduction and have no non-wage income. Just copy the number from Line G onto the certificate and you’re done.

If you itemize or want to account for other income, work through the lines:

Line 1: Your estimated itemized deductions for the year, including mortgage interest, state and local taxes (capped at $10,000 combined), charitable contributions, and qualifying medical expenses.
Line 2: The Delaware standard deduction. The form prints $3,250. Use $6,500 if you file jointly.³
Line 3: Line 1 minus Line 2. If itemizing doesn’t beat the standard deduction, enter zero and the section will add nothing.
Line 4: Adjustments to income, such as IRA contributions, alimony paid, the Delaware pension exclusion, or the exclusion for those over 60 or disabled.
Line 5: Line 3 plus Line 4.
Line 6: Estimated non-wage income. This reduces allowances rather than adding them.
Line 7: Line 5 minus Line 6. A negative number means your other income outweighs your extra deductions.
Line 8: Line 7 divided by $2,000.
Line 9: The number from Line G.
Line 10: Line 8 plus Line 9. This is the number you put on the certificate.

If Line 10 lands negative or unusually low and you still expect to owe, use the Additional Amount field on the certificate rather than trying to record a negative allowance count.²

Filling In the Certificate

The top portion of the form is what your employer keeps. Transfer your information into these fields:

Name and Social Security number, matching your Social Security card
Home address (your Delaware address, or your out-of-state address if you are a nonresident)
Filing status box: Single, Married Filing Jointly, or Married Filing Separately
Total number of allowances, from Line 10 of the worksheet (or Line G if you skipped Lines 1–10)
Additional amount: a flat dollar figure to withhold from every paycheck on top of the formula-based amount. Useful if you have side income, a working spouse, or want a refund cushion.
Employer’s name and address, if the version of the form you’re using includes those fields
Signature and date. The form is invalid without your signature.

What One Allowance Is Actually Worth

Each allowance you claim reduces your annual Delaware withholding by $110, which works out to roughly $4.23 per biweekly paycheck or $9.17 per month.³ That figure is worth keeping in mind if you are trying to fine-tune your take-home pay. Adding one allowance moves the needle by only a few dollars per check; adjusting the Additional Amount field is the faster lever if you need a bigger swing.

Handing It In

Give the signed form to your employer’s payroll or HR department. Do not mail it to the Division of Revenue. Your employer stores it and updates your withholding internally, usually within one or two pay cycles.¹ Keep a copy for yourself, and compare the state withholding line on your next pay stub against what you expected.

When to File a New One

You can turn in a new DE-W4 any time. The moments that most often call for one:

Marriage or divorce, which changes your filing status
A new child or dependent, which adds at least one allowance
A spouse who starts or stops working
A meaningful change in non-wage income, such as a new rental property or investment gains
Turning 60 or 65, both of which unlock extra allowances on the worksheet

Revisiting the form each January, or whenever last year’s refund or balance due surprised you by more than a few hundred dollars, is a reasonable habit.

Two Situations Where the DE-W4 Isn’t the Right Form

If you are the spouse of an active-duty servicemember, your legal domicile is in another state, and you are in Delaware only to live with your spouse near their assignment, you may be exempt from Delaware withholding under the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act. In that case you file Form W-4DE, not the DE-W4, and your employer will need to see your spouse’s Leave and Earnings Statement and your military dependent ID.⁴

If you commute across state lines, note that Delaware has no reciprocal withholding agreement with Pennsylvania, Maryland, or New Jersey.⁵ A nonresident working in Delaware still needs a DE-W4 on file with the Delaware employer; the withholding calibrated by that form gets credited on your home-state return so you aren’t taxed twice on the same wages.

1
Division of Revenue – State of Delaware. Delaware W-4 Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
2
Delaware Division of Revenue. DE-W4 Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
3
Division of Revenue – State of Delaware. Employer’s Guide (Withholding Regulations and Employer’s Duties)
4
Delaware Division of Revenue. State of Delaware Form W-4DE Annual Withholding Tax Exemption Certification
5
Division of Revenue – State of Delaware. Personal Income Tax FAQs