How many exemptions can I claim on my tax form?

Question

I currently qualify to claim 7. I am a single mother of one child and do not want to owe the IRS money at the end of the year. I also want to keep as much money as possible in my check.

Answer 1

Having limited information, looking at a Form W-4 I can see where you might possibly qualify to claim seven.

I don't know if I would ultimately claim all 7 the entire year, though. With 7 exemptions you will hardly have anything taken out of your check for Federal Withholding. Good for your check, but not so good when it comes time to file. You want to have enough taken out so that you've paid in enough to not owe the IRS anything additional, but without knowing your income, I can't tell you how many to withhold.

The link below will take you to the IRS website and straight to their withholding calculator. Go through the steps entering your information, and it should give you an idea of what to do. If the link doesn't work, go to www.irs.gov, click the "individuals" button at the top, and then click the "withholding calculator" link in the middle of the page.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Depending on how much you make, you very likely won't owe any tax (if you make less than around $25K and your child is under 17), and might be eligible for an earned income credit. If you aren't going to owe any tax, claim as many as you want, it won't hurt you.

Are they taking any tax out of your check when you claim 7? If not, increasing it isn't going to change that. If you are eligible for earned income credit though, it's possible to get it paid through the year in your paycheck rather than at the end when you file.

Answer 3

You can claim as many as you want, what you have to remember is how many SSNs can you produce to prove your excemptions.

As a single parnet you want to claim 0. This will take out close to 19% for FICA, Medicare, and Federal. This way the IRS takes all of their money and some of yours too. When you go to file next year you will get it all back. If you claim 2 than you will keep as much money as possible but you risk owing at the end of the year.

As a single mommy I recommend that you claim zero and reap the rewards at tax time with a very nice refund check, where you get all that paid out and EIC.

Answer 4

You are allowed to claim as many as twelve on your W-4 before they send it to the IRS.

The amount to claim to be owed and owe zero on April 15 depends on your income and many other items.

You may want to go to an tax professional to have them estimate for you. Don't forget about the earned income credit that you may qualify for being single and head of household.

Answer 5

May I say, but you don't qualify to have 7 exemptions unless you have 6 children that are your dependents. The number of exemptions equals you plus how many dependents you claim. The form W4 might be deceiving