Taxes: How many to claim on W-4 (Expert advice only please)?

Question

I am getting married tomorrow, and in leu of that, my fiancee and I are updating our w-4's.

A little background:
a) She has a son, 2 years old, that lives with us full time
b) I make 27,000/yr
c) She makes 16,000/yr
d) We rent an apt (but plan to buy in about 2 years, hopefully less)
e) She currently claims our son

If you need any more information, let me know. If you want to contact me directly, jon at phazm dot net is the best address to reach me by.

I want to know what would be the best amount to claim. (We really don't know anything about this, it's sad really) We don't know if we should file jointly or seperately, who should claim our son, etc.

Thanks in advance!

Please ELABORATE on as to WHY you suggest what you do. Thanks.

Answer 1

If you file jointly, your total income will be 43000 yearly. If you claim the standard deduction, you will get 10300 taken off plus 3300 for every dependent and exemption. So you, your soon-to-be wife, and her son, is 9900 in exemption amount. 10300+9900= 20200. 43,000-20200=22800.

The formula for this amount will be $1510 plus 15% of the excess over 15100. so... 22800-15100= 7700*15%= 1155+ 755= $1910 is your total tax for the year. Therefore, each week you want your employer to withhold that amount divided by 52 weeks which is $36.73 for you and your spouse combined.

So...for this I will assume you get paid weekly(it will be the same answer no matter what anyway). 43000/52 weeks = $826.92 per week(average). For every exemption claimed, they will subtract $63.46 off your taxable income. All you need to break out even is 36.73. So if you claim 4 exemptions TOTAL, the amount of tax taken out will be 826.92-(4*63.46)-154= 419.08. This will be taxed at 10%, which will be 41.91 taken out per week. Multiply this by 52 weeks and it equals $2179.32 paid out in taxes, and since you will only owe $1910, this will result in a refund of 269.32. This is the closest you can come using allowances on your W-4's. OR you may opt to claim like 10 allowances and have additional tax taken out that will equal $36.73 per week. I recommend doing 4 allowances total on your W-4's.

Conclusion, you should BOTH claim 4 allowances on your W-4's. note also that this is done using the standard deduction and no other deductions or credits, if you itemize more than your standard or qualify for things like the child tax credit, then you will get more of a refund. If you have any other tax related questions, feel free to contact me.

EDIT: More information sent to you, please ignore my above answer!

Answer 2

The withholding question has been beaten to death here already - and as you can see from the variance in answers, not all are correct. Several of the responses you already got are partially correct, then have a part that is not.

Since you're already half-way through the year, you've already paid a lot in, and the responder who said you need to take that into account is correct. Suggestions that you EACH claim everyone will probably get you in trouble tax-wise.

Usually you come out better filing jointly than married filing separately unless some really unusual circumstances exist. Once you're married, you are no longer allowed to file as single, but could file as married filing separately, but probably has no advantages and might well have disadvantages. Since your status at the end of the year is what counts, for this year's taxes you'll be considered married. With a combined income of $43,000 you won't be eligible for the earned income credit, even though your fiancee might have gotten it in the past. You will get a child credit for your son. If you file jointly, you'll just have the one return so will claim him together. If you have child care expenses for while you're both working, you will probably be able to deduct a portion of that.

Congratulations and best wishes on your marriage.

Answer 3

Depends on you, really.
I don't claim any dependants on my W-4...then at tax time I get a big refund. (You can always claim the full number of dependants on your tax return...doesn't matter whether you've claimed them during the year or not.) The drawback to this is that the government gets to use some of my money (that I would otherwise be bringing home) interest free. I do it this way because: 1. The extra amount I'd get each payday would not be that large, and 2. I wouldn't save it...this way I get a nice check around the middle of May.
If you're a good money saver, then you and your wife should claim all three deductions during the year...you'll get more each payday. HOWEVER: Don't you BOTH claim three deductions...since you make the most, you claim two (yourself and your stepson. Since she makes less, she should just claim one deduction (herself).
You should still be OK at tax time...won't have to pay anymore, and may even get a little bit back. Just not as much as you would have gotten if you'd both claimed no deductions.
Good luck...

Answer 4

Your refund is based on the following things: 1) Your gross income 2) The deductions you subtract from that 3) The tax you owe 4) The credits you subtract from that 5) The total amount withheld from your wages. At least one of the above must be different this year than last year. Since you said you started a new job this year, I'm going to guess it was (1) that changed, which would have made a corresponding change in (3). Take your last year's return and compare it line by line with this year's. You'll see where the difference lies.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Taxes: How many to claim on W-4 (Expert advice only please)?
I am getting married tomorrow, and in leu of that, my fiancee and I are updating our w-4's.

A little background:
a) She has a son, 2 years old, that lives with us full time
b) I make 27,000/yr
c) She makes 16,000/yr
d) We rent an apt (but plan to buy in about 2 years, hopefully...

Answer 6

Pretend it time to file your annual tax return. Fill out everything up to the 'total tax' line. Now you have a good estimate of the amount you will owe. Use the withholding tables available from the IRS to determine how many exemptions will result in your withholding totaling that amount.

This method works regardless of you situation.

Answer 7

If you want an expert's advice then why the hell are you asking people on here and not on the phone asking a tax preparer??That's the only person who can tell you for sure,or you can trust the teenagers on here,and hopefully you won't get audited by the IRS!!!!

Answer 8

Easy. Claim Married 3 for Both of You.

Answer 9

The IRS has a withholding calculator that will tell you exactly how many exemptions to claim based on how much each of you have paid thus far and your estimated tax liability. Just click the link and answer a few questions:

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96196,00.html

Answer 10

One of the two of you should claim the son. The other claim Themselves So one claim 2 the other claim 1. This way you will not have to worry about anything when filing. You will get earned income for your son at the end of the year.