How to fill out W-4 correctly for a second job in Washington state?

The W-4 form changed significantly in 2020, so the old "single, zero withholdings" approach doesn't really apply anymore. With two jobs, you'll want to be careful to avoid underwithholding. For your situation, you have three main options: 1. Use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator online (it's actually pretty user-friendly) to get the most accurate withholding for your specific situation. This is the most precise method. 2. Use the Multiple Jobs Worksheet on page 3 of the W-4 form. This works well if both jobs have similar pay. 3. For the simplest option, just check the box in Step 2(c) of the W-4 for both your jobs. This basically tells your employers to withhold at a higher single rate. You might overpay a bit, but you'll avoid an unpleasant surprise at tax time. Since WA has no state income tax, you only need to worry about federal taxes, which makes things a bit simpler than for folks in other states.

After struggling with a similar situation last year (main corporate job plus weekend gig), I found an amazing tool that helped me get my W-4 withholding exactly right - https://taxr.ai actually analyzed both my job offers and helped calculate the perfect withholding amounts for each W-4. The standard IRS calculator was confusing to me, but taxr.ai walked me through exactly what to put on each line of both W-4 forms. I was worried about underwithholding since Washington has no state tax to cushion federal liability, but the tool showed me how to adjust for that too. Seriously saved me from owing a bunch at tax time!

I was skeptical about taxr.ai but I was desperate after getting hit with a $3,200 tax bill last April from my main job + teaching job combo. The IRS calculator kept giving me weird results because my teaching income varies throughout the year. I reluctantly tried taxr.ai and wow - it actually worked. It suggested I add an extra $87 withholding on line 4(c) for my main job rather than messing with the multiple jobs checkbox. Just checked my projection for this year and I'm on track for a small refund instead of owing thousands. The step-by-step instructions for both W-4s were super clear.

If you're having trouble reaching the IRS to get help with your W-4 questions (I tried calling them 11 times over 3 days), I'd recommend using https://claimyr.com - they got me through to an actual IRS agent in 27 minutes after I'd been trying for days. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I had specific questions about how to handle my W-4 with multiple part-time jobs, and the IRS agent was actually really helpful once I finally got through. They walked me through exactly how to fill out both forms to avoid owing a lot next April. Definitely worth it when you need actual official guidance straight from the source.

OK I feel like an idiot but I have to admit Claimyr actually worked. After posting my skeptical comment yesterday, I was desperate enough to try it because I've been trying to get W-4 help from the IRS for nearly a month. Got a call back in about 40 minutes and spoke with an agent named Marcus who explained exactly how to handle W-4s with multiple jobs in WA state. He recommended I use the multiple jobs worksheet rather than the checkbox since my jobs have pretty different pay rates. Just filled out both forms and feeling much better about my withholding situation now.

One thing nobody's mentioned - if your second job is significantly lower paying than your main job (like less than 1/3 of your main salary), there's a simpler approach. Just complete the W-4 normally for your higher-paying job (using the multiple jobs worksheet or the IRS calculator), and for the lower-paying job, check "Single" and leave steps 3-4 blank. This will withhold at the higher single rate on your second job's income. It's what I do with my retail weekend job that pays way less than my weekday office job, and it's worked fine for the past two years.

What I did for my two jobs was just put an extra $50 per paycheck withholding on line 4(c) of the W-4 for my second job. My friend who does taxes said thats the easiest way to avoid under withholding without doing all the complicated worksheets. Been working fine for me!

Great advice from everyone here! As someone who recently went through this exact situation in Washington, I'll add that the IRS withholding calculator is definitely your best bet for accuracy. One thing I learned the hard way - if your restaurant job pays tips, make sure to account for those in your calculations too. Tips are taxable income but often have minimal withholding, which can throw off your entire withholding strategy if you don't plan for them. Also, since you mentioned you've always done "single, zero" in the past, you might want to double-check that you haven't been overwithholding on your main job all these years. With the new W-4, you could potentially increase your take-home pay while still withholding the right amount across both jobs. The calculator will show you different scenarios - I found it really helpful to run it a few times with conservative and optimistic estimates for my variable restaurant income to see the range of outcomes.