How to Fill Out the West Virginia WV/IT-104 Employee Withholding Form

To fill out the West Virginia WV/IT-104, enter your name, Social Security number, address, and employer at the top, then work down six numbered lines that tell your employer how many exemptions to apply, whether to use the lower single-earner withholding table, and whether to take extra tax out of each check. Sign it, hand it to payroll, and keep a copy. The form goes to your employer, not to the state.¹

Get the Current Version

Download the WV/IT-104 from the West Virginia State Tax Department’s withholding forms page at tax.wv.gov.² The current revision is dated March 2023. Many employers hand out a copy on your first day, but pulling the latest PDF yourself confirms you’re not filling in an outdated version. It’s a single page you can print, complete by hand, and return to payroll or HR.

Fill In the Header First

Before the numbered lines, complete the top block: full legal name, Social Security number, home address, and employer name. Your employer uses the SSN to report your wages and withholding, so check it twice.¹

Count Your Exemptions on Lines 1 Through 4

The form allows one exemption for yourself, one for your spouse, and one for each dependent you expect to claim on your West Virginia return.¹ Each one you claim lowers the tax withheld from your paycheck. Work down the lines:

Line 1 is for single filers. Enter 1 if you are single and no one else claims you as a dependent. Enter 0 if someone else does claim you.
Line 2 is for married filers. You and your spouse can split up to two exemptions between your two IT-104 forms. Enter 2 if you claim both (typical if your spouse doesn’t work or doesn’t file a separate certificate). Enter 1 if each of you claims one. Enter 0 if your spouse already claims both on their form.
Line 3 is your other dependents: children, elderly parents you support, or other qualifying relatives you expect to claim on your state return. Do not count your spouse here.
Line 4 is the total. Add Lines 1 through 3 (or Line 2 plus Line 3, depending on filing status) and enter the sum. This is the figure your employer plugs into the state withholding tables.

If you’re unsure whether a household member qualifies as a dependent, claiming fewer exemptions is the safer move. You’ll recover any overwithholding as a refund. Claiming more than you’re entitled to can trigger penalties, and the form’s signature line certifies under penalty of law that you haven’t overstated your exemptions.¹

Line 5: The Lower-Rate Checkbox

Line 5 is a checkbox, not a number. Check it only if all three of these are true: you are single, head of household, or married with a non-working spouse; you hold only one job; and you want your employer to use the “One Earner/One Job” table, which withholds at a lower rate than the default two-earner table.¹ Leave it unchecked if you work a second job or if both you and your spouse earn wages. Otherwise too little tax comes out during the year and you’ll owe at filing time.

Line 6: Extra Withholding

Line 6 lets you ask for a flat dollar amount of extra withholding per pay period. This is useful if you have side income that isn’t withheld against — rental income, freelance work, investment gains — and you’d rather prepay through payroll than send quarterly estimated payments. Enter the dollar amount you want added on top of the standard calculation. Leave it blank or enter $0 if you don’t need it.¹

Sign, Date, and Give It to Payroll

Sign and date the bottom of the certificate. Hand it to your employer’s payroll or HR department. Do not mail it to the West Virginia State Tax Department. Your employer keeps it on file and uses it to look up your withholding in the state’s tables.¹ Make a copy for yourself before turning it in. If a question comes up later about what you claimed, you’ll want the record.

If you skip the form entirely, the form itself warns that the tax withheld “may not be sufficient to cover the total amount of tax due the state,” and that you may face a penalty on the balance.¹ In practice, payroll systems default to zero exemptions when no certificate is on file, so more comes out of each check than needs to. Filing the form is how you get the withholding closer to what you’ll actually owe.

When to File a New One

You can submit an updated IT-104 to your employer at any time. Certain changes make an update important:

Marriage or divorce, which changes the exemptions available to your household.
Birth or adoption of a child, which adds a dependent and lowers your withholding.
Losing a dependent, if you no longer provide more than half the support for someone you previously claimed.
A spouse starting or stopping work, which often means unchecking Line 5 and reallocating the spousal exemption between two certificates.
Taking a second job, since each employer only sees part of your income and can under-withhold on its own.

The new withholding takes effect the pay period after payroll processes the form. Waiting too long can leave a shortfall that draws interest and a failure-to-pay penalty at filing time.³

Commuters From Reciprocal States

West Virginia has reciprocal income tax agreements with Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. If you live in one of those five states and commute to a West Virginia job, your employer doesn’t withhold West Virginia tax. You pay only to your home state. To claim that treatment, file a WV/IT-104NR (Certificate of Nonresidence) rather than the standard IT-104, though the Tax Department still requires your employer to keep an IT-104 on file, so payroll may ask you to complete both.⁴ If you live in any other state and work in West Virginia, no reciprocal agreement applies, your employer withholds West Virginia tax, and you’ll file a nonresident state return.⁵

Military Spouses

Under the federal Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, you can claim an exemption from West Virginia withholding if your spouse is an active-duty service member stationed in the state on orders, you are in West Virginia solely to be with your spouse, and you maintain legal domicile in another state. Complete the military-spouse section of the WV/IT-104NR, enter your state of domicile, and attach a copy of your spousal military ID. If your circumstances change and West Virginia becomes your new domicile, tell your employer within ten days so withholding can start.¹

1
West Virginia Tax Division. West Virginia Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate
2
West Virginia Tax Division. Withholding Tax Forms
3
West Virginia Tax Division. TSD 365 How Interest and Additions to Tax are Assessed
4
West Virginia Tax Division. Withholding Information for Employers
5
West Virginia State Tax Department. West Virginia Special Nonresident Income Tax Return