How to Fill Out Form IT-2104: NY and NYC Allowances

To fill out Form IT-2104, New York’s Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, download the current year’s form from the Department of Taxation and Finance, enter your name, address, and residency, check one filing-status box, use the attached worksheets to compute your allowances for New York State and (if applicable) New York City or Yonkers, add any extra flat-dollar withholding you want, then sign and give it to your employer.¹ The form is separate from the federal W-4 because New York sets its own brackets, credits, and local taxes.

Start With the Current Year’s Form

Pull the PDF directly from tax.ny.gov and confirm the year printed in the upper-right corner. An out-of-date form can push your employer to apply the wrong withholding tables for the entire year. The 2026 version reads “Tax Year 2026.”²

Filling In the Top of the Form

The identifying block asks for your first and last name, Social Security number, and permanent home address. Two residency questions follow: whether you are a resident of New York City (all five boroughs) and whether you are a resident of Yonkers. Answer these carefully. Each locality has its own withholding tax, and Form IT-2104 handles all three jurisdictions on one document.²

Then mark exactly one filing-status box:

Single or Head of household. Use this box even if you plan to file your state return as head of household. Also use it if you are married but legally separated.
Married. This applies the standard married withholding rate.
Married, but withhold at higher single rate. Useful when both spouses work or you have significant non-wage income, because the regular married rate often under-withholds.

The box you check determines which withholding-tax table your employer uses every pay period.¹

Working Out Your Allowances

The heart of the form is a set of worksheets that translate your dependents, filing status, and expected deductions into a number of allowances. More allowances mean less tax taken from each check. Fewer allowances mean more tax withheld and a smaller chance of owing at filing time.¹

Part 1: State (and Yonkers) Allowances

Part 1 covers lines 6 through 19. The entries that matter most:

Line 6, dependents. The count of dependents you’ll claim on your state return. Don’t count yourself or your spouse.
Line 15, head of household with one job. If you file head of household and hold a single job, enter 2.
Line 18, itemized deductions. If you plan to itemize on your state return, complete Part 2 first and enter the result here. If you’ll take the standard deduction, enter 0.
Line 19, total. Add lines 6 through 18 and carry the total to Line 1 on the front of the form.

Line 1 is your total allowances for New York State and, if you’re a Yonkers resident, for the Yonkers surcharge as well.³

Part 2: Adjustment for Itemized Deductions

Skip Part 2 if you’ll take the standard deduction. If you plan to itemize on Form IT-196, estimate your total itemized deductions on line 20. On line 21, enter the standard deduction that matches your filing status:

Single, not a dependent: $8,000
Single, claimed as a dependent: $3,100
Married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse: $16,050
Married filing separately: $8,000
Head of household: $11,200

Subtract line 21 from line 20. If the difference is positive, divide by $1,000 and drop any fraction. Put that number on line 23, then carry it up to line 18 in Part 1.³

Line 2: New York City Allowances

If you answered “Yes” to the New York City residency question, complete Part 4 of the worksheet (lines 29 through 31) and put the result on Line 2. This is your city allowance count.³

Part 4 can produce a negative number. If your employer’s payroll can’t handle a negative, enter 0 on Line 2 and use Line 4 to request additional city withholding. The instructions suggest $0.80 per week per negative allowance as a starting point, doubled for biweekly pay or scaled to whatever your pay frequency is.³

Yonkers residents don’t fill in a separate Yonkers allowance number. The Yonkers surcharge is computed as a percentage of your New York State tax, and your Line 1 allowances flow through automatically.⁴

Extra Withholding on Lines 3, 4, and 5

Below the allowance lines, three lines let you ask your employer to hold back an extra flat dollar amount from every paycheck on top of what the tables produce. Line 3 is for New York State, Line 4 for New York City, and Line 5 for Yonkers. These require agreement between you and your employer.²

Extra withholding is a common fix for people who have investment gains, freelance income, or rental income on the side and would rather cover the tax through payroll than through quarterly estimated payments.

If You Have More Than One Job

File a separate Form IT-2104 with each employer. The worksheets include a section for multiple jobs and for married couples where both spouses work; use those tables to divide allowances across jobs so your combined withholding lands near your combined liability.¹

A frequent error is putting the same allowance count on each form. New York’s rates are progressive, so combined wages can land in higher brackets than either job alone would suggest. Claiming fewer allowances, or requesting extra withholding on one job, prevents a surprise bill.¹

When IT-2104 Isn’t the Right Form

Two situations use different forms even though they look like withholding decisions.

If you qualify for a full exemption from New York withholding, use Form IT-2104-E instead. You can claim exemption only under Group A (you are under 18, over 65, or a full-time student under 25; you had no New York tax liability last year; and you expect none this year — all three must be true) or Group B (a military spouse protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act who is in New York solely to be with a stationed servicemember). The certificate expires April 30 of the following year, so you have to file a new one annually. Providing false information to reduce withholding carries a $500 penalty.⁵

If you live outside New York but do some work in the state, use Form IT-2104.1 to certify nonresidence and estimate the share of your work performed in New York; your employer will then withhold on that portion only.⁶

Handing It In

Sign the form and give it to your employer’s payroll or HR department. Don’t mail it to the Tax Department yourself. New withholding usually takes effect within one or two pay cycles. Keep a copy.²

Your employer forwards a copy to the state in two cases: if you claim more than 14 New York State allowances (quarterly submission), or if you’re a new hire under the state’s New Hire Reporting Program (within 20 days of your start date).³

If you never submit an IT-2104 at all, your employer must withhold at the default rate, which is single with zero allowances. That produces the highest withholding and the smallest paycheck.⁷

When to File a New One

Review the form at least once a year and file a fresh one whenever something material changes: marriage or divorce, a new child, buying a home, starting or leaving a second job, or a large raise. Keeping the form current is how you avoid both underpayment penalties and oversized refunds.²

If you owed money on your last New York return, claim fewer allowances this time. New York’s underpayment penalty runs at the federal short-term rate plus 5.5 percentage points, adjusted quarterly, with a floor of 7.5%.⁸

1
Department of Taxation and Finance. Tips and Reminders: Form IT-2104, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
2
Tax.NY.Gov. Form IT-2104 Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate Tax Year 2026
3
Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form IT-2104 Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate
4
Tax.NY.gov. Yonkers Withholding Tax Tables and Methods
5
Tax.NY.Gov. Form IT-2104-E Certificate of Exemption from Withholding Year 2026
6
Tax.NY.gov. New York State, City of New York, and City of Yonkers Certificate of Nonresidence and Allocation of Withholding Tax
7
New York State Senate. New York Tax Law Section 671 – Requirement of Withholding Tax From Wages
8
Tax.NY.gov. Interest and Penalties