Form NC-4: North Carolina Withholding Certificate Online

What is Form NC-4?

Form NC-4 is the North Carolina Department of Revenue's Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate. Your federal Form W-4 only sets federal withholding, so if you work in North Carolina your employer also needs an NC-4 to withhold the correct amount of State income tax. If you don't give your employer one, the form says it must withhold as if your filing status is Single with no allowances. The current edition is NC-4 Web 10-25.

The PDF has six pages: a cover page of printing guidance for handwritten forms, the instructions with the certificate at the bottom (the part you cut off and give to your employer), and the NC-4 Allowance Worksheet: Part I questions for your filing status, Part II calculations, Schedules 1 and 2, and a Multiple Jobs Table. The certificate is read by machine, so names and addresses go in capital letters, one per box, without punctuation.

FileIt lets you fill out the NC-4 online in a guided form. It pre-fills your name from the People records in your vault, prints it in capitals in the boxes as the form asks, works through Part II and both schedules for you, looks up the Multiple Jobs Table, and prints everything onto NCDOR's own official PDF. The finished form is saved in your vault folder, and you can send it for e-signature if you like. FileIt never submits anything to NCDOR or your employer: you give the certificate to your employer yourself.

Who fills it: The employee. The worksheet pages are for your own records; the certificate goes to your employer.
Given to: Your employer. The form warns that your employer may be required to send it to the N.C. Department of Revenue, and all NC-4 forms are subject to review.
When: When you start a job with North Carolina withholding, and within 10 days if your allowances decrease.
Signatures: You sign and date the certificate, certifying under penalties provided by law that you're entitled to the allowances on line 1.
Edition: NC-4 Web 10-25, six pages including the Allowance Worksheet, Schedules and Multiple Jobs Table.

Who needs to fill out Form NC-4?

Employees who have North Carolina income tax withheld from their wages.
New hires in North Carolina, so their withholding isn't set to Single with no allowances by default.
People with N.C. itemized deductions, a child deduction, federal adjustments or N.C. tax credits that could entitle them to allowances.
Married couples, who must agree whether to complete the worksheet as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately.
People with two or more jobs, who should use one worksheet for all jobs and may need extra withholding from the Multiple Jobs Table.
Not for nonresident aliens, who must use Form NC-4 NRA. People who only claim the standard deduction and the child deduction, or who claim exempt status, may use the shorter Form NC-4 EZ.

When to use Form NC-4

When you start a job in North Carolina.
Within 10 days after your withholding allowances decrease. There's one exception: if you stop being Head of Household after keeping up the household for most of the year, a new NC-4 isn't needed until the first pay period ending on or after January 1 of the following year.
When your deductions, children or tax credits change enough to change your allowances.
When you take a second job or your spouse starts working, so allowances sit on the higher-paying job and line 2 covers the rest.
When you want more State tax withheld — you may claim fewer allowances than you're entitled to, or ask for an additional amount on line 2.

What you need before you start

Your name, Social Security number and home address, including your county (the form takes its first five letters).
Your filing status: Single, Married Filing Jointly, Married Filing Separately, Head of Household or Surviving Spouse.
Estimates for the year of your home mortgage interest, real estate property taxes, charitable contributions, medical and dental expenses and any repayment of claim of right income (Schedule 1).
The number of qualifying children under 17 and your estimated federal adjusted gross income (Schedule 2).
Estimates of federal adjustments to income, N.C. deductions and additions, nonwage income such as interest or dividends, and N.C. tax credits.
If you're married filing jointly, your spouse's expected combined wages and taxable retirement benefits.
If you have more than one job, your estimated annual wages from the lowest-paying job and your pay period.

What’s on Form NC-4

The 2025 edition has 6 pages. FileIt asks for it in 7 parts, and it is signed by Employee:

Certificate — your name and addressEmployee
Filing status and lines 1–2Employee
Allowance Worksheet Part I — questions for your filing statusEmployee
Allowance Worksheet Part IIEmployee
Schedule 1 — Estimated N.C. itemized deductionsEmployee
Schedule 2 — Estimated N.C. child deduction amountEmployee
Multiple Jobs Table — additional withholding (line 2)Employee

How to fill out Form NC-4, step by step

1 Certificate: lines 1 and 2

Line 1 is the total number of allowances you are claiming: zero, or the number from Part II, line 17 of the Allowance Worksheet. Line 2 is any additional amount you want withheld from each pay period, in whole dollars. With more than one job, the Multiple Jobs Table gives the amount for line 2.

The form asks you not to use dollar signs, commas or other punctuation in the boxes. FileIt right-aligns the numbers in the boxes for you.

2 Certificate: Social Security number, filing status, name and address

Enter your Social Security number and choose one of the three filing status ovals: Single or Married Filing Separately; Head of Household; or Married Filing Jointly or Surviving Spouse. Then your first name, middle initial, last name, address, the first five letters of your county, city, state, 5-digit ZIP code, and country if not the U.S.

The instructions say to use capital letters for your name and address, one character per box. FileIt converts what you type into capitals, removes accents and punctuation (O'Brien-Müller becomes OBRIEN MULLER), and warns you if something won't fit in the boxes.

3 Allowance Worksheet Part I

Answer all the questions in the box for your filing status: whether your N.C. itemized deductions will exceed the figure printed for your status, whether your child deduction will exceed $2,499, whether you'll have federal adjustments or N.C. deductions, and whether you can claim N.C. tax credits. Married Filing Jointly has a fifth question about your spouse's income.

If you answer No to all of them, stop and enter zero on line 1 (five for a Surviving Spouse). If you answer Yes to any, you may go on to Part II; otherwise line 1 is zero (five for a Surviving Spouse). FileIt fills in line 1 for you from your answers.

4 Allowance Worksheet Part II

Part II compares your estimated N.C. itemized deductions with the standard deduction for your filing status (printed on line 2 of the 10-25 edition), then adds your child deduction and adjustments and subtracts nonwage income and N.C. additions. Line 11 divides the result by $2,500 and line 13 divides your N.C. tax credits by $103, each rounded down. Line 14 adds a figure for a Surviving Spouse or, when married filing jointly, one based on your spouse's expected wages.

Line 15 totals your allowances. Married couples filing jointly can split that total between them however they choose (line 16). Line 17 is your number for line 1 of the certificate. FileIt works out every calculated line.

5 Schedule 1: Estimated N.C. itemized deductions

List your estimated home mortgage interest and real estate property taxes, then charitable contributions and medical and dental expenses (same as allowed for federal purposes) and any repayment of claim of right income. The mortgage interest and property taxes together may not exceed $20,000; for married taxpayers that limit applies to both spouses combined. FileIt applies the cap and carries the total to Part II, line 1.

6 Schedule 2: Estimated N.C. child deduction amount

If you are allowed a federal child tax credit, North Carolina allows a deduction for each qualifying child under 17 at the end of the year. The amount per child depends on your filing status and federal adjusted gross income, and drops to nothing above the top threshold. Pick your income row, enter the number of qualifying children, and FileIt prints the deduction on that row and carries it to Part II, line 4.

7 Multiple Jobs Table

If you have more than one job, find your estimated annual wages from the lowest-paying job(s) and follow across to your pay period (monthly, semimonthly, biweekly or weekly). That amount goes on line 2. Head of Household filers use their own table. There's nothing to fill in on this page. FileIt looks up the figure when you switch this part on.

8 Signature and date

Sign and date the certificate. You certify, under penalties provided by law, that you are entitled to the number of withholding allowances claimed on line 1. FileIt prints the date, and you can sign on paper or through the optional e-signature.

Common mistakes to avoid

Using lower-case letters, punctuation or dollar signs in the boxes. The certificate is read by machine.
Giving your employer the whole PDF instead of the certificate at the bottom of the first page. The worksheet pages are for your records.
Claiming full allowances at two jobs. Use one worksheet for all jobs, claim all allowances at the higher-paying job and zero at the other.
Married couples each claiming the full line 15 total when filing jointly, instead of splitting it on line 16.
Going on to Part II when every Part I answer is No — the worksheet says to stop and enter zero (five for a Surviving Spouse).
Claiming more than $20,000 of mortgage interest and property taxes combined on Schedule 1.
Counting children who will be 17 or older at the end of the year for the child deduction.
Claiming allowances with no reasonable basis. The form warns of a penalty of 50% of the amount not properly withheld.

After you fill it out

Print the NC-4, or send it for e-signature through FileIt, and make sure it's signed and dated. Cut along the dashed line and give the certificate to your employer; keep the instructions and the Allowance Worksheet pages for your records. If you print it, the cover page's guidance applies: use blue or black ink for anything you add by hand, and print with page scaling set to none.

Your employer keeps the certificate and may be required to send it to the North Carolina Department of Revenue. All NC-4 forms are subject to review by the Department.

FileIt saves the finished PDF in your vault folder, with the worksheet showing how you reached your number. File a new NC-4 within 10 days if your allowances go down, and review it when you marry, have a child, start a second job, or have nonwage income that may call for estimated payments on Form NC-40.

Fill out Form NC-4 online with FileIt

Pick the person. Choose someone from People and FileIt fills in their name, date of birth, address and other details it already knows.
Answer plain-language questions. One part of the form at a time, with the official help text beside each question — 130 fields in all. Your answers save as you go.
Check the live preview. Watch your answers land on the real North Carolina Department of Revenue (NCDOR) form, and let FileIt do any worksheet arithmetic.
Generate the official PDF. FileIt prints your answers into the agency’s own PDF and files it in that person’s folder in your vault. Sign it, or send it for e-signature.

FileIt fills the form — it never files or submits anything for you. Deliver the finished form to whoever asked for it, the way the form’s instructions say.

Start Form NC-4 now — it’s free

Form NC-4: frequently asked questions

Do I need an NC-4 if I already filled out a federal W-4?

Yes. The W-4 only controls federal withholding. North Carolina uses its own allowance system and worksheet, and without an NC-4 your employer must withhold as if you were Single with no allowances.

How many allowances should I claim on the NC-4?

The Allowance Worksheet decides it. Many people answer No to all the Part I questions and claim zero (a Surviving Spouse claims five). If you answer Yes to any, Part II may give you more, based on itemized deductions, the child deduction, adjustments and N.C. tax credits. You may always claim fewer.

What is the difference between NC-4, NC-4 EZ and NC-4 NRA?

The NC-4 EZ is a shorter version for people who plan to claim the N.C. standard deduction and at most the child deduction, don't plan to claim N.C. tax credits, or qualify for exempt status. Nonresident aliens must use the NC-4 NRA. Everyone else uses the full NC-4 with its Allowance Worksheet.

Why must the NC-4 be in capital letters?

The certificate is designed to be read by machine. The form asks you to use capital letters for your name and address and not to use dollar signs, commas or other punctuation marks. FileIt prints it that way automatically.

Where do I send Form NC-4?

Give the certificate to your employer. Don't send it to NCDOR yourself; your employer may be required to send it to the Department, which can review any NC-4.

Can I fill out the NC-4 online?

Yes. FileIt lets you fill it in online, does the Allowance Worksheet and Multiple Jobs Table arithmetic, and prints your answers onto NCDOR's official PDF. You print it or send it for e-signature, then give it to your employer yourself. FileIt never submits it.

I have two jobs. How do I fill out the NC-4?

Work out your total allowances for all jobs on one Allowance Worksheet. Withholding is usually most accurate when all allowances are claimed on the NC-4 for the higher-paying job and zero on the other. Use the Multiple Jobs Table to find any additional amount for line 2.

How should married couples complete the NC-4?

Both spouses must agree whether to use Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately for the worksheet. Filing jointly means considering both spouses' income, deductions and credits, and the line 15 total can be split between you. Filing separately means each spouse uses only their own portion.

What if my allowances go down during the year?

You must file a new NC-4 with your employer within 10 days after the change. If you stop being Head of Household after keeping up the household for most of the year, you have until the first pay period ending on or after January 1 of the next year.

Official sources

Blank form (PDF), published by North Carolina Department of Revenue (NCDOR): https://www.ncdor.gov/employees-withholding-allowance-certificate-0/open
Official instructions and guidance: https://www.ncdor.gov/taxes-forms/withholding-tax/withholding-tax-forms-and-instructions
Edition shown on this page: NC-4 Web 10-25 (checked 2026-09-26).

FileIt is not affiliated with or endorsed by North Carolina Department of Revenue (NCDOR) or any government. This page explains the form in general terms and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Always read the official instructions, and check that you are using the edition the recipient accepts. Page last reviewed 2026-09-26.