How to Fill Out Mississippi Form 89-350: Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate

Mississippi Form 89-350 is the state’s Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate, and to fill it out you choose one filing status on Lines 1 through 3, add any dependent and age or blindness amounts on Lines 4 and 5, total everything on Line 6, request extra withholding on Line 7 if you want it, sign the bottom, and give it to your employer. Done correctly, it tells your employer how much Mississippi income tax to pull from each paycheck. Skip it and your employer must withhold on your full wages with zero exemptions, which means too much tax coming out of every check.¹

Where to Get the Form

Most employers hand you a blank Form 89-350 during onboarding alongside the federal W-4. If yours doesn’t, download it from the Mississippi Department of Revenue website.² The current revision is dated October 2024. It’s a single page with eight numbered lines plus spaces for your name, Social Security number, home address, and signature.

One thing to know up front: unlike the federal W-4, which asks for allowances or dollar adjustments, Mississippi’s form is dollar-based. You enter the actual exemption dollar amount on each line that applies, then add them up. Leave lines that don’t apply blank or enter zero.¹

Lines 1 Through 3: Pick One Filing Status

These three lines are mutually exclusive. You get one, not a combination.

Line 1, Single: Enter $6,000.
Line 2, Married: If your spouse does not work, enter $12,000 on Line 2(a). If your spouse also works, the two of you split the $12,000 between your two forms in any combination you choose, using $500 increments, as long as the total doesn’t exceed $12,000. Enter your share on Line 2(b). For example, you might claim $7,000 while your spouse claims $5,000 on their own Form 89-350.
Line 3, Head of Family: Enter $9,500. You qualify if you’re single and maintain a home that is the principal residence for you and at least one dependent.

The married split is where people slip up. If both spouses claim the full $12,000 on their own forms, too little tax gets withheld and you’ll owe when you file. Talk to your spouse before you both sign.

Line 4: Dependents

Count the dependents you’ll claim, multiply by $1,500, and enter the result. A dependent is someone who receives their chief support from you and qualifies as a dependent on your federal return. Don’t count yourself or your spouse.¹

If you’re filing as head of family, there’s a catch. The dependent who qualifies you for that status is already built into the $9,500 on Line 3, so don’t count that person again on Line 4. Three dependent children plus head-of-family status means $3,000 on Line 4, not $4,500. Married couples can divide their dependents between the two forms however they like.

Line 5: Age 65 or Older and Blindness

Check a box for each condition that applies: you are 65 or older, your spouse is 65 or older, you are blind, or your spouse is blind. Each checked box is worth $1,500. Someone who is both 65 and blind checks two boxes and enters $3,000. A married couple where both spouses are over 65 enters $3,000. There is no additional exemption for dependents based on age or blindness.¹

Line 6: Add It Up

Add Lines 1 through 5 and enter the sum. That total is what your employer uses to calculate your withholding.

Line 7: Additional Withholding

If you want extra tax withheld on top of what the tables call for, enter a flat dollar amount per pay period on Line 7. This is worth considering if you have significant non-wage income (rental income, freelance work, investment gains) that won’t have Mississippi tax withheld automatically. Your employer has to agree to withhold the extra.¹

Line 8: Military Spouse Exemption

Line 8 is narrow. If you qualify under the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act and owe no Mississippi income tax, write “Exempt” on Line 8 and attach a copy of federal Form DD-2058 along with your Military Spouse ID Card so your employer can verify the claim.¹ If that’s not you, leave this line blank.

Sign It and Give It to Your Employer

Hand the signed form to your employer, not to the Department of Revenue. Your employer keeps it on file and uses it to run the numbers on each paycheck.¹

When to File a New One

Submit a new Form 89-350 within 30 days whenever your exemption status changes. Common triggers: getting married or divorced, having a child, a spouse starting or leaving a job, or turning 65.¹

The deadline tightens when a life change reduces your exemptions. If a divorce drops you from $12,000 to $6,000, for example, the employer withholding instructions give you ten days, not thirty, to file an amended certificate.³ Miss that window and you’ve been under-withheld for every paycheck in the gap, so you’ll owe the difference at tax time.

What Happens If You Don’t File One

No form, no exemptions. Your employer is required to withhold Mississippi income tax on your full wages with zero exemptions, meaning nothing reduces your withholding and the full gross of each check gets taxed.³ You’ll get the over-withholding back as a refund when you file your annual return, but until then you’ve handed the state an interest-free loan out of every paycheck.

Going the other way carries its own risk. Willfully providing false information on Form 89-350 carries penalties, and inflating your exemptions to under-withhold is the kind of thing that draws scrutiny during audits.¹ Claim what you’re entitled to, nothing more.

1
Mississippi Department of Revenue. Mississippi Form 89-350 – Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate
2
Mississippi Department of Revenue. Withholding Exemption Certificate – Completed by Employee
3
Mississippi Department of Revenue. Withholding Income Tax Tables and Employer Instructions