I live by myself. How many allowances can I claim?

Question

Someone told me I could claim up to 2. Single and head of household.... is that right? If not, will that change when my boyfriend moves in?

Answer 1

I see you asked this in US and UK threads. You can claim as many as you want. The allowances reduce the amount of tax taken out during the year, but you will owe at the end of the year. If you owe too much, you may be required to file quarterly.

Your boyfriend does not affect your taxes at all, you cannot claim him and he cannot claim you.

Below is a link to the IRS calculator. I would highly recommend that you use it. It will tell you exactly how many allowances you should claim in order to help you not owe much at the end of the year.

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

Good luck.

Answer 2

No, you are not head of household for tax purposes and can't file that way - among other things you need a dependent and provide more that half of the cost of keeping up a household for them, so you don't qualify. And if your boyfriend moves in, that won't change, even if he has no income and you support him totally - he might be a dependent in that case, but wouldn't qualify you for head of household since he's not closely related by blood or marriage - that's a requirement also for head of household. You could only claim him as a dependent if he lived with you ALL year and you supported him, so 2007 is already out for claiming him.

By the W-4 worksheet, you could claim one allowance for yourself, plus another one if you only have one job. You'd be wiser to just claim one though, since if you claim two you'll very likely end up owing something at tax time. With one you should about break even or get a small refund.

Answer 3

Single and 1 will probably get you a small refund.

If you claim Single and 2, you run the risk of owing at year end.

You do not qualify for Head of Household unless you have a dependent (ie child). Having your boyfriend move in with you doesn't qualify you for Head of Household even if you pay all the bills.

Answer 4

Allowances for your paycheck are different than exemptions come tax return time. If you are not married and don't have any children or other dependents, your best bet is to file single - 1. you should break even tax-wise if you don't have any significant investment income, etc. If you have any children, increase the number of exemptions by teh # of kids. Boyfriend is not relevant, no matter where he lives

Answer 5

Your better of claiming single and 0 on your W-4 for your paycheck. You will have a better chance of getting money back. But if you do the worksheet on the W-4 form you could claim more then one (yourself). Less taxes taken out and less that you will get back. You could even claim expempt but I would not recommend it for a long period of time. I did it fo a few months a few yrs ago. But as far as claiming dependents when you file your taxes. You can only claim yourself if you dont have dependents and no one else can claim you. It really depends on when you want your money...now or at the end of the year. Personally I would rather have it through out the year.