Form W-4P - Withholding Certificate for Periodic Pension or Annuity Payments

What Form W-4P is

Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Periodic Pension or Annuity Payments, tells the payer of your pension, annuity, profit-sharing or stock bonus plan, or IRA payments how much federal income tax to hold back from each payment. You do not send it to the IRS. You give it to the plan or company that pays you. The 2026 edition is a four-page PDF: page 1 is the form, pages 2 and 3 are the instructions, and page 4 is the Deductions Worksheet that you keep for your own records.

The form is for periodic payments, meaning installments at regular intervals over more than one year. Lump sums and eligible rollover distributions use a different form, W-4R. Payments to nonresident aliens are also outside this form, and the IRS points to Publication 515 and Publication 519 for those.

Who typically needs it

• New retirees who are starting a pension or annuity and have to choose a withholding setup for the first time.
• Existing recipients who want to raise or lower withholding after a change in marital status, dependents, other income or deductions.
• People with more than one pension, or a pension plus a job, who need the payments to add up to the right overall withholding.

A separate Form W-4P goes to each payer. If you receive three periodic payments, you submit three forms.

What you need before you start

• Your expected filing status for the year.
• Recent payment statements or pay stubs, so the numbers match what is already being withheld.
• Your number of qualifying children under 17 and other dependents, if you complete Step 3.
• The result of the Deductions Worksheet on page 4, if you complete Step 4(b).

The IRS offers a Tax Withholding Estimator at www.irs.gov/W4App. The form itself recommends it when you file after the start of the year, receive payments for only part of the year, or have mid-year changes.

How to fill out Form W-4P online with PDF Editify

1. Open this template page and click "Fill Template Now".
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4. Download the finished PDF. Downloading needs a plan: One Week Plan at $3 one-time, Standard at $10 per month or $100 per year, or Lifetime from $99 one-time.

Step 1: Personal information

Enter your first name and middle initial, last name, address, and city, state and ZIP code in line (a). Enter your Social Security number in line (b). In line (c), tick one filing status: Single or Married filing separately, Married filing jointly or Qualifying surviving spouse, or Head of household. The form notes that Head of household is only for unmarried filers who pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for themselves and a qualifying individual.

Step 2: Income from a job or multiple pensions

Complete this step only if you have income from a job or more than one pension or annuity, or if you file jointly and your spouse has such income. You do one of two things: use the estimator, or fill in the three items under (b). Item (i) is total taxable annual pay from jobs, item (ii) is the total annual taxable payments from lower-paying pensions or annuities, and item (iii) is the sum of the two. Enter "-0-" where an item does not apply.

Step 3: Dependent and other credits

This applies if your total income will be $200,000 or less ($400,000 or less if married filing jointly). Line 3(a) is the number of qualifying children under 17 multiplied by $2,200. Line 3(b) is the number of other dependents multiplied by $500. Line 3(c) is other credits, such as the foreign tax credit and education credits. Line 3 is the total of the three.

Step 4: Other adjustments

Line 4(a) is other income, such as interest, taxable Social Security and dividends, if you want tax withheld on it. Line 4(b) is your deductions, taken from line 17 of the Deductions Worksheet on page 4. If you skip it, withholding is based on the standard deduction. Line 4(c) is any extra amount you want withheld from each payment. There is also a No withholding checkbox, which is explained under "Choosing not to have income tax withheld" on page 2 of the form.

Step 5: Sign

Sign and date the form.

Signing and submitting

Give the signed form to the payer of your pension or annuity. The official form and instructions are on the IRS page About Form W-4P, and the PDF is at irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4p.pdf. If you want a hand with the signature step, see sign a PDF online. For the employee version of this form, read our guide on how to fill out a W-4.

Deadlines and fees

The IRS sets no filing deadline for Form W-4P, because you give it to your payer and not to the IRS. There is no fee for the form. According to the 2026 instructions, if your payments began before 2026, your existing withholding election or default rate stays in effect unless you submit a new form. If you do not give the payer a form, do not provide an SSN, or the IRS notifies the payer that your SSN is wrong, the payer withholds as if you were single with no adjustments in Steps 2 through 4. Source: IRS Form W-4P (2026) instructions, checked on October 23, 2026.

Common mistakes

• Using W-4P for a lump sum or rollover. Those payments use Form W-4R.
• Filing one form for several payers. Each pension, annuity or periodic payment needs its own form.
• Completing Steps 3 and 4(b) on every form. The form says to complete them only if line 2(b)(i) is blank and this pension pays the most annually.
• Leaving out the Social Security number, which triggers default single withholding.