My son is divorced with one child. The mother gets to claim the child on her taxes. So, on a W-4 form, does he claim 0 exemptions or 1 exemption for himself?
2006-08-25 02:46:59 · 9 answers · asked by sallysue 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
Basically, the "exemptins" on your W-4 is the total number of people you are supporting. Since he will only be supporting himself, he should claim 1.
2006-08-25 13:54:53 · answer #1 · answered by TaxMan 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you can claim as little or as many exemptions as you like. Many people don't realize that if they claim too many exemptions you end up owing the governement money at the end of the year because not enough withholdong was taken out of their pay. On the other hand you can consider it a small savings account. Manke you exemptions a low as practical, I have kids and only claim one, this way more federal income tax is withheld from your check At the end of the year you recieve the excess you paid back in a tax return. It adds up during the year. Of course you want do do this if you could instead invesdt the additional money at work through a 401K etc. Because while you excess withholdongs may accumulate and be returned they do not earn interest as 401k would.
As far as the right way to do it he claims only 1.
2006-08-25 03:05:22 · answer #2 · answered by Lauren1980 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that the father of the child can still claim 1 exemption for himself, just can't claim the child.
2006-08-25 02:51:46 · answer #3 · answered by DMBthatsme 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Claim 1. But if he has the child 50% of the time, he will get some added deductions. You might want to see if they can trade off exemption, like she claims the child in '05, your son does it in '06 etc. I would probably still claim 1 either way, but if he claims him one year, he would qualify for head of household.
2006-08-25 19:31:31 · answer #4 · answered by It's me 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he is by himslef & cannot claim the child as a dependent he should claim 0 on this tax return. It also depends on a variety of other factors-does he give to charity, does he own a home. ie does he itemize. Have him go to IRS.gov & go through their W-4 witholding calculator to figure out what his tax liability at the end of the year will be & what he needs to put on his W-4 to get there. Ideally, you want to max out each paycheck & have no refund at the end of the year. If you get a refund, it means you are effectively giving the gov't an interest-free loan.
Good luck!
2006-08-25 03:06:52 · answer #5 · answered by chh945s 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well since the mother is claiming the child, he claims ONE exemption instead of TWO.
2006-08-25 04:24:44 · answer #6 · answered by scrawndogg25 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Either one. If he claims 0 then they will take out the maximum amount of taxes on him, meaning the possibility of a bigger end of year refund. On the other hand, if he claims 1, they will not take quite as much out, giving him a little more each paycheck. It is really personal choice.
2006-08-25 02:52:39 · answer #7 · answered by mommacass76 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Claim zero irregardless of how many dependents there are. That way the IRS takes the max and at the end of the year you are more likely to get a refund or break even, rather than owe!
2006-08-25 02:52:55 · answer #8 · answered by Tangled Web 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you claim 0 then more taxes are taken out but you get more back, you claim 1 then less taxes are taken out but you might wind up owing. Its up to him.
2006-08-25 02:53:06 · answer #9 · answered by jam_psb 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1 for yourself.
Don't look too deep into the W4 .... it's ok if you mess it up.
2006-08-25 03:13:52 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋