New York State’s IT-2104 is one of the most misunderstood forms for employees and employers. Employers are often unsure if they must have employees complete IT-2104 because of its apparent redundancy with the W-4 form for federal taxes. Both the New York State IT-2104 and Federal W-4 are entitled “Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate” and help determine how much income tax should be withheld from an employee’s paycheck.
An employee not filing IT-2104 results in an employer reporting the same allowances as those indicated on Form W-4. This is acceptable for existing employees, however, differences between New York State and Federal tax law may result in the wrong amount of tax withheld for New York State. Completing both Form W-4 and Form IT-2104 helps ensure employees have the proper amounts withheld for both state and federal taxes.
According to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website, IT-2104 must be submitted in place of, or in addition to, the W-4 when completing the new hire reporting requirement because it includes additional required information regarding dependent health insurance benefits and hire date. It is not necessary to report changes to deduction amounts or other information for existing employees.
It is important to always use the most up to date forms available to be in full compliance with Department of Labor regulations. The best practice is for employees to complete new IT-2104 and W-4 Forms each year when personal and financial information has changed from the previous year.
The current IT-2104 and current W-4 Forms are available at these links.
The current W-4 Form in Spanish is available here. (Please note that it is acceptable to use the Spanish W-4 form, unlike the Spanish version of Form I-9, which is only for use in Puerto Rico.)
For more information, visit the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website: https://www.tax.ny.gov/bus/wt/wtidx.htm
IRS Website: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-4
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By Lucas Smith, Cornell University. Permission granted to repost, quote, and reprint with author attribution.
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