How do you file exempt on your taxes?

Question

im 18, have no dependents, no one can claim me, and i make 19000 a year. i want to claim exempt, and i know that all i have to do is write so on the bottom of the form. but am i able to do so? does anyone know the income limits to file exempt? and if you do file exempt, do you still get a w-2 form at the beginning every year or how do you then, file your taxes when you are exempt?? please help!

Answer 1

Some answers have noted that claiming exempt on your W-4 does not mean you don't have to file and pay taxes. That is technically correct, but if you earn enough to be required to file a tax return (and you do), you can't legally claim exempt. Claiming exempt IS claiming your will have ZERO tax liability.

Answer 2

Claiming exempt is something that's done on a W-4 that you file with your employer. It doesn't mean that you are exempted from paying tax, just that the employer wouldn't withhold income taxes from your paychecks, so you'd have to pay it all at the end.

You are not legally entitled to claim exempt on your W-4, since you are only allowed to do that if you do not expect to owe any tax for the year, and you will have tax liability. If you claim exempt anyway, you'll have to pay the whole amount at the end of the year, plus penalties for underwithholding and possible additional penalties for illegally filing a W-4 as exempt.

Yes, you'd still get your W-2 early the next year, showing your income for the year and zero as federal taxes withheld. Repeat - this does NOT exempt you from paying tax. All you do is cause trouble and extra expense for yourself.

Answer 3

You can't be exempt. In 2007, the standard deduction for an unmarried individual is $5,350 and the personal exemption is 3,400. That means if you income is over $8,750 you will have to pay federal income taxes unless you have itemized deductions (charitable deductions, state income taxes, real estate taxes, and mortgage interest are the biggest) of at least $15,600.

You should always get a Form W-2 early in a year for the previous year. You list your withholding exemptions (different from the personal exemption on the tax return) on a Form W-4.

Answer 4

Sorry, but you're not exempt. Not with your income.

There's not an income limit to be exempt from withholding. You have to have had zero tax liability for last year and expect to have zero liability this year. With your income, there's NO WAY that you will have zero liabiliy so claiming EXEMPT status on your Form W-4 is out of the question.

If you do file EXEMPT on your W-4, you will be subject to a $500 penalty for filing an improper EXEMPT claim.

Answer 5

The rule for filing exempt is that you expect no tax liability this year and had none last year. Just enter exempt on your W4. This does not mean that you do not have to file taxes if required due to being over the minimum income level.

NOTE: Exempt is only used if you have no tax liability. Not having any taxes withheld and then owing tax can mean penalties, interest, and worse.

What makes you think that you are exempt from paying taxes?

Answer 6

You can't file exempt with that income. Fill out a 1040 like the rest of us. Good try!

Answer 7

You can claim exempt on your W-4 form, which determines how much tax is withheld from your paycheck. But you must still file income taxes, and you must still pay if you owe. If you are single you will owe the highest amount, single people pay the most taxes.

Answer 8

You mean, you think that you're exempt from paying income tax? You can only file exempt if you make less than $800 a year.

Actually, you might not make enough to pay, but you still have to fill out a forms at the end of the year. 1040-EZ ought to do it for ya.

Answer 9

File Exempt till you start earning a minimum of $ 100,000 per year.

Good Luck!

Answer 10

"Exempt" means exempt from withholding, not from taxation.

At $19k, you do not qualify to be "Exempt" from withholding.