What You'll Learn
- What Column 4 on the WH-347 actually represents
- Why "withholding exemptions" is a legacy concept (W-4 changed in 2020)
- What to enter when workers filed a post-2020 W-4
- Whether this column even matters to DOL compliance
- Common Column 4 mistakes
What Column 4 Means on the WH-347
Column 4 on the WH-347 is titled "No. of Withholding Exemptions." It asks for the number of federal income tax withholding exemptions the worker claimed on their Form W-4. Historically, this was a single number from 0 to 10+ that directly affected how much federal income tax you withheld from each paycheck.
The problem: the IRS overhauled Form W-4 in 2020 and eliminated the concept of "withholding allowances" entirely. Workers no longer claim a number of exemptions. Instead, they use the new W-4 with dollar amounts for dependents, other income, and deductions. The WH-347 form has not been updated to reflect this change.
What to Enter on Column 4 Today
There is no universally mandated rule from DOL for post-2020 W-4s, but three approaches are widely accepted:
- Enter "N/A" or leave blank. Many contracting officers accept this for workers with a 2020+ W-4 on file. This is the cleanest answer if you have confirmation from your agency.
- Enter "0". Some contractors default to 0 for all workers. This is common and rarely flagged by DOL.
- Back-calculate from the dependent amount. If the worker claimed $2,000 per dependent on the new W-4, you could arguably enter the dependent count here. But this is a stretch.
Pick one and be consistent
The DOL Wage and Hour Division does not enforce a specific Column 4 convention for post-2020 W-4s. What matters is that you use the same approach for every worker on every WH-347 for the life of the project. Switching methods mid-project is what gets flagged in audits.
Does Column 4 Even Matter?
Short answer: not much. Column 4 is a leftover from when certified payroll reports doubled as a way to verify federal tax withholding. Today, DOL auditors focus almost entirely on Columns 5, 6A, 6B, 7, 8, and 9 (hours worked, rates paid, gross wages, deductions, net pay). Column 4 is rarely the cause of a Davis-Bacon violation finding.
That said, don't skip it. An empty Column 4 on every row looks sloppy and can trigger a contracting officer to kick the report back for resubmission, which delays payment on your invoices. Put something in there.
Common Column 4 Mistakes
Copy-pasting from the prior week's W-4 data
If a worker submitted a new W-4 during the project, their Column 4 value might change. Most contractors never update it. This is only a problem if the number actually changed, which for post-2020 W-4s it almost never does.
Putting the W-4 Line 3 dollar amount in Column 4
Line 3 of the new W-4 is the dependent credit in dollars (e.g., $2,000 per qualifying child). Putting $2,000 in Column 4 is wrong because Column 4 expects a count, not a dollar amount. Use dependent count (e.g., 1) or N/A instead.
Leaving it blank on some rows and filling it on others
Inconsistency across rows within the same report is what catches DOL auditors' attention. Pick one convention and stick with it.
Columns Related to Column 4
The WH-347 is a tightly interconnected form. If you are comfortable with Column 4, you should also review Column 6A (Hourly Wage Rate) and the full step-by-step WH-347 guide.
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CertifiedPayrollPro auto-fills Column 4 based on your preferred convention and applies it consistently across every worker.
