To fill out Arkansas Form AR4EC, print your name, Social Security number, and address at the top, choose one option on Line 1 for your personal exemption, add your dependents on Line 2, total them on Line 3, request any extra per-paycheck withholding on Line 4, check Line 5 only if your income falls in the low-income range, then mark your filing status and sign. That covers the whole form. The rest is knowing which choices fit your situation.
What the AR4EC Is For
AR4EC is Arkansas’s withholding exemption certificate, the state counterpart to the federal W-4. Your employer uses what you put on it to look up how much Arkansas income tax to deduct from each paycheck.1Justia Law. Arkansas Code 26-51-907 – Withholding Tables Every new hire completes one before the first paycheck. The employer keeps it on file and does not send it to the state. You can download the current version from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration or ask your payroll department for a copy.2Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Withholding Tax Forms and Instructions
The AR4EC and the federal W-4 are separate. Filling out one does not update the other, and the exemptions you claim on each can differ because Arkansas and the IRS calculate withholding differently.
Line by Line
The current form (revised February 2025) has five numbered lines, a filing-status checkbox, and a signature block.3Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. AR4EC Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate Instructions
Personal Information
Print your full legal name, Social Security number, and home address at the top. This information needs to match what will appear on your Arkansas return.
Line 1: Your Personal Exemption
Pick one of three options:
- Line 1a: yourself only. Enter 1.
- Line 1b: yourself and your spouse. Enter 2. Use this only if you file jointly and your spouse is not claiming an exemption on a separate AR4EC.
- Line 1c: Head of Household claiming yourself. Enter 2.
Head of Household filers enter 2 even though only one person is being claimed. The extra exemption reflects the more favorable tax treatment that status receives.3Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. AR4EC Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate Instructions
Line 2: Dependents
Enter the number of children or other dependents you support. Each counts as one exemption. To qualify, the person must receive more than half of their financial support from you, must not be claimed by their spouse on a separate return, and must be a U.S. citizen or resident. They also need to either live in your home all year or be a qualifying relative by blood or marriage (child, parent, sibling, grandchild, in-law).3Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. AR4EC Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate Instructions
Line 3: Total Exemptions
Add Line 1 and Line 2 and write the sum on Line 3. If you’re claiming nothing, enter zero. This is the number your employer plugs into the withholding tables.
Line 4: Additional Withholding
Line 4 lets you request an extra flat dollar amount from every paycheck on top of what the tables produce. It’s optional, and it’s the most useful line for people whose situation doesn’t fit the standard exemption count: a second job, freelance income, or a working spouse. Without an adjustment, households with more than one income stream tend to owe at tax time.3Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. AR4EC Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate Instructions
Line 5: Low-Income Rates
Check Line 5 only if your total income from all sources falls within one of these 2025 ranges:
- Single: $14,265 to $17,000
- Married Filing Jointly, one or fewer dependents: $24,057 to $28,300
- Married Filing Jointly, two or more dependents: $28,953 to $35,100
- Head of Household, one or fewer dependents: $20,282 to $24,600
- Head of Household, two or more dependents: $24,176 to $28,200
If your income is below the bottom of the range that applies to you, you may owe no Arkansas income tax at all. In that case the right form is AR4ECSP, which tells your employer to withhold nothing, not the AR4EC with Line 5 checked.3Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. AR4EC Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate Instructions
Filing Status and Signature
Check one box: Single, Married Filing Jointly, or Head of Household. Those are the only three options on the AR4EC. Sign and date it. Your signature certifies that you haven’t claimed more exemptions than you’re entitled to, and without both signature and date the form isn’t valid.
If You Work Two Jobs or Both Spouses Work
The exemption system on the AR4EC assumes one job per household. When two spouses work, or one person holds two jobs, claiming the standard exemptions on each form usually under-withholds. The instructions call this out and suggest two fixes: claim fewer exemptions than you’d otherwise be entitled to, or use Line 4 to add a flat dollar amount per paycheck.3Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. AR4EC Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate Instructions
When both spouses work and file jointly, only one should use Line 1b for the spouse exemption. The other uses Line 1a and claims themselves only. Dependents can be split across two AR4ECs as long as the combined total across both forms doesn’t exceed the number of dependents you actually support. Double-claiming across forms is the most common way dual-income couples end up owing.
When to File a New AR4EC
Submit a new AR4EC whenever your situation changes in a way that affects your exemptions: marriage, divorce, a new child, a spouse starting or leaving a job. The DFA recommends that employers prompt employees each year to review their withholding.4Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. State of Arkansas Withholding Tax Employer’s Instructions
One change comes with a hard deadline. If the number of exemptions you’re entitled to goes down, you must file a new AR4EC within 10 days. That rule is triggered by divorce or legal separation from a spouse whose exemption you’ve been claiming, or by a dependent whose support you’re now providing less than half of. Increases (like a new child) don’t have the same deadline but should still be filed promptly so you aren’t over-withholding.3Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. AR4EC Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate Instructions
What Happens If You Get It Wrong
Skip the form entirely and your employer has to withhold at the highest rate: Single with zero exemptions.4Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. State of Arkansas Withholding Tax Employer’s Instructions Your paychecks shrink, and you recover the excess as a refund at tax time. The state has held your money interest-free all year. Filing the form takes a few minutes.
Claim too many exemptions and you flip to the opposite problem: not enough is withheld, and you owe the balance in April. Arkansas charges an underpayment penalty if you owe at least $1,000 and the amount due exceeds 10% of your total tax liability for the year. The most common way to stay clear of the penalty is the prior-year safe harbor: withhold at least as much as your total tax liability was the year before. If your income is steady, matching last year’s withholding usually keeps you out of penalty territory even if this year’s bill runs slightly higher.5Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Subject 603 – Underpayment of Estimated Tax