Toast Payroll: Update Form W-4 Information
Last updated: Feb 23, 2026, 4:17 PM
| If an employee does not fill out their Form W-4, Toast Payroll uses the IRS guidelines to withhold the employee's Federal Income Tax (FIT) as if they filed as single with no deductions, also known as S-0. The idea behind this IRS guideline is that this withholding would lead to the highest per pay period taxes and it would be better to overwithhold the employee and refund when they file at year end, rather than under-withhold the employee and lead them to owe additional funds when filing their taxes. |
2026 Form W-4
The IRS recently released an updated Form W-4. Minor changes were made to some of the language on the 2026 Form W-4. These changes do not impact tax withholding calculations. The IRS has not yet mandated use of the updated form. Toast Payroll will work on updates to the form and make it available to employees in early 2026.
The only major updates were made to the IRS Deductions Worksheet, located on page 4 of the updated IRS Form W-4 documentation. The worksheet can assist employees in determining what they should enter on Form W-4. If an employee would like to adjust the amount of taxes withheld based on the 2026 W-4 worksheet, they can be entered on the currently-available Form W-4 in Toast Payroll.
If an employee is a non-resident, please review for special instructions concerning how to fill out your Federal W-4.
Update Form W-4 Information
To update form W-4 information, follow the steps below:
- Log into Toast Payroll and starting in the upper-left corner, navigate to My Profile > Taxes & Documents > Tax Forms tab.
- The state W-4 form(s) appears as a button rather than a hyperlink. Select Fill Out State W-4 or select the Federal W-4 hyperlink to update each respective form.
- Guidance for updating your Federal W-4 can be found on the . Select Submit at the bottom of the page to approve your updates.
- In the rare case that you are exempt from federal income tax (FIT), ask your manager or employer to after you've filled out your federal Form W-4.
- If you are updating your state W-4 form, you will be asked a series of questions specific to your state. Once all questions across all state W-4s have been addressed, you will see the option to review and submit your form. At any point, you can toggle to the forms and instructions tab which will show the hard copy of the W-4 form. To toggle back to the filing questions, select the Wizard tab.
- At certain times you will have to enter fields such as allowances and dependents. You won't be able to advance to the next question until you enter this information.
- Make sure to preview this form before submitting it.
- Once you have finished filing your Form W-4, you will no longer be able to view it in the document library. To view the completed form or to fill out another W-4, navigate to the Tax forms tab and scroll down to the W-4 forms. Use the print icon to view a copy of the completed form.
- Any changes you make here will take effect on the next payroll (as long as it hasn't been started or calculated yet). Check with your manager or payroll administrator to verify if the upcoming payroll has been started yet.
Form W-4 Settings for HR+ Users
Available only to HR+ users, there are additional settings that can be applied to an employee's Form W-4 values once they have filled out at least a federal Form W-4. Navigate to the employee's profile > Taxes & Documents > Tax Forms and select the yellow Edit button.
For illustration purposes. Your experience may differ.
Use these settings at your discretion. If you'd like to make an employee exempt from federal income tax (FIT), select Yes for the Exempt from Federal Withholding option before selecting Save.
Additional Resources
- (IRS website)
This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for advice.