How to Fill Out Form VA-4: Exemptions, Withholding, and Filing

To fill out Form VA-4, complete the Personal Exemption Worksheet at the top to count every exemption you’re entitled to, transfer those subtotals to Line 1 of the certificate below, add any extra withholding or special exemption that fits your situation, sign it, and hand it to your employer. The form tells your Virginia employer how much state income tax to take out of each paycheck, and it’s separate from the federal W-4 because Virginia counts exemptions differently than the IRS does.¹

Have your Social Security number and home address ready before you start. If you never turn in a VA-4, your employer must withhold as if you claimed zero exemptions, which pulls the maximum out of every check.² Claim too few exemptions and you’ll overpay all year; claim too many and you’ll owe a lump sum in April.

The form has two parts that work together. The worksheet at the top uses Lines 1 through 8 to count exemptions. The certificate below has its own numbering (Lines 1 through 4, plus a full-exemption line) and is what your employer actually keeps.³ Fill out the worksheet first.

Step 1: Complete the Personal Exemption Worksheet

Yourself, Spouse, and Dependents

Line 1: write “1” for yourself. Line 2: write “1” if you’re married and your spouse doesn’t claim their own exemption on a separate VA-4. Line 3: enter the number of dependents you’ll claim on your Virginia return, not counting your spouse. Line 4 is the subtotal of Lines 1 through 3.³

Each of these personal exemptions reduces your taxable income by $930 per year for withholding purposes.⁴ A married employee with two kids who claims all four takes $3,720 off the income the payroll system uses.

Age and Blindness

Lines 5 through 7 catch exemptions people often miss. Claim Line 5(a) if you’ll be 65 or older by January 1 of the next year. Claim Line 5(b) if you claimed your spouse on Line 2 and they’ll also be 65 or older. Lines 6(a) and 6(b) work the same way for legal blindness — yours on 6(a), your spouse’s on 6(b). Line 7 totals these.³

Each age or blindness exemption is worth $800 a year rather than $930.⁴ Skip these lines and you’re overwithholding for no reason.

Line 8 adds Line 4 and Line 7 together. That’s the number you carry down to the certificate.

Step 2: Transfer the Totals to Line 1 of the Certificate

The certificate’s Line 1 has three sub-entries and simply mirrors what you counted above. Put your worksheet Line 4 total on certificate Line 1(a). Put your worksheet Line 7 total on certificate Line 1(b). Put your worksheet Line 8 total on certificate Line 1(c).³ Your employer’s payroll system takes it from there.

Step 3: Decide Whether to Add Extra Withholding on Line 2

Line 2 is optional. It lets you request a specific extra dollar amount withheld from every paycheck on top of what the standard formula produces. Use it if you have a second job, freelance income, or investment earnings that aren’t subject to withholding. There’s no cap. Bumping this up is the cleanest way to avoid a balance due when you file.

Special Situations That Change the Rest of the Form

You Live in a Reciprocity State (Line 3)

Virginia has reciprocity agreements with the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. If you live in one of those and commute across the border, check Line 3 and your employer withholds nothing for Virginia.⁵ The qualifying rules differ:

D.C. and Kentucky residents qualify if they commute daily to their Virginia workplace.⁶
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia residents qualify only if their sole Virginia income is wages, those wages are taxed by their home state, they’re in Virginia 183 days or fewer during the year, and they don’t maintain a residence like a house or apartment in Virginia.⁵

You’ll still owe income tax to your home state on those wages, so make sure that state’s withholding is set high enough. The Line 3 exemption must be recertified every calendar year with a new VA-4.³

You’re the Spouse of an Active-Duty Servicemember (Line 4)

Line 4 exempts qualifying military spouses under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act as amended by the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act. All three of these must be true: your spouse is an active-duty servicemember stationed in Virginia on military orders, you’re in Virginia solely to be with your spouse, and your legal home is still in another state.⁷ You can’t just pick your spouse’s home state; you must have actually lived there with the intent to make it your permanent home and kept that connection when you moved to Virginia.

If you check Line 4, attach a copy of your military spouse identification card to the form.³ Divorce ends this protection immediately, and it can also end if you set up a separate residence in Virginia apart from your spouse.⁷

You Expect Zero Virginia Tax Liability

The certificate has a separate line where you can write “Exempt” and have no Virginia income tax withheld at all. Two conditions must both be met: you had no Virginia income tax liability last year, and you reasonably expect none this year.³ This usually fits students and part-time workers whose annual income is below Virginia’s filing threshold.

If you claim it, leave the exemption number lines blank. “Exempt” overrides everything else. If your income jumps mid-year, file a new VA-4 right away rather than waiting until you owe money at filing time. This full exemption also has to be recertified each calendar year.

Turning It In and Updating It Later

Give the completed VA-4 to your employer’s payroll or HR department. You don’t mail it to the Virginia Department of Taxation; your employer keeps it on file. Employers may accept it electronically if their system meets IRS requirements for digital withholding certificates.⁸

File a new VA-4 whenever a life event changes the number of exemptions you can claim: marriage, divorce, a new child, a spouse turning 65. Virginia’s employer withholding guide says the updated form should be filed within 10 days of the change.⁸ The statute specifically requires that 10-day window when the number of exemptions you’re entitled to drops below what you’re currently claiming.²

If You’re an Independent Contractor

Form VA-4 is only for employees. Independent contractors paid on a 1099 don’t file this form with their clients and don’t have Virginia tax withheld from their pay. You’re responsible for sending estimated payments directly to the Virginia Department of Taxation instead. Virginia follows the federal classification rules — if the IRS calls a relationship employer-employee, Virginia does too.¹

What Happens If You Lie on the Form

Claiming exemptions you know you don’t qualify for isn’t just a math problem. Anyone who willfully provides false information on a withholding certificate, or who deliberately withholds information that would increase their withholding, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor under Virginia law.⁹ That carries up to 12 months in jail, a fine of up to $2,500, or both.¹⁰ The operative word is “willfully.” Miscounting dependents in good faith is a filing error, not a crime; padding your exemptions to dodge withholding is the version that gets prosecuted.

1
Virginia Department of Taxation. Withholding Tax FAQs
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-470 – Withholding Exemption Certificates
3
Virginia Department of Taxation. Form VA-4 Employee’s Virginia Income Tax Withholding Exemption Certificate
4
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-322.03 – Virginia Taxable Income; Deductions
5
Virginia Department of Taxation. Reciprocity
6
Legal Information Institute. 23 Virginia Administrative Code 10-140-230 – Certain Nonresidents; Reciprocity With Other States
7
Virginia Department of Taxation. Important Tax Information Regarding Spouses of United States Military Servicemembers
8
Virginia Department of Taxation. Income Tax Withholding Guide for Employers
9
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-471 – Fraudulent Withholding Exemption Certificate or Failure to Supply Information
10
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-11 – Punishment for Conviction of Misdemeanor