How Many Allowances Should I Claim On My W4's?

Question

I Am Single No Kids. Have 1 Part Time Job As Of Now And Go To School. No One Can Claim Me As A Dependent. What Should I Claim 0 1 Or 2 And Please Explain Why.

Answer 1

I would claim 0 or 1. Claiming 2 is not really accurate and I am weary of telling you to claim 2 for that reason. Zero will increase the amount of your withholdings compared to claiming 1. Without knowing any of your other tax liabilities and available deductions, and based upon only part time work.... I think that claiming 1 would be most economical for you now. Zero will, as I mentioned before, increase the amount of your withholdings, versus claiming 1 -- the amounts will really be small as you only work part-time. The increased withholdings will come back to you come tax day -- so if you'd prefer to see money come back to you on 4/15 claim 0. If you would rather have a little more cash now, that you could put away or whatever, I'd claim 1. My feeling is: if you need the $$ to live now, or if you can save it with interest, it's better to take it now and not have the government withhold it, non-interest bearing (thus, claim 1). But, if you prefer to get a little "bonus" on 4/15, then claim 0.

Answer 2

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RE:
How Many Allowances Should I Claim On My W4's?
I Am Single No Kids. Have 1 Part Time Job As Of Now And Go To School. No One Can Claim Me As A Dependent. What Should I Claim 0 1 Or 2 And Please Explain Why.

Answer 3

First question, do you think that you will earn more than $8750 this year? If the answer is no, then claim exempt on your W-4 because you will not have a Federal tax liability based upon your question.

Second question, do you want to have a tax refund, owe at tax time, or come as close to breaking even as possible? If you want a refund, claim zero, this will have the most taken out of your paycheck for the year. If you want to owe, then claim 5, this will ensure that you owe at the end of the year based upon the information in your question. However, you don't want to owe more than $1000 because then you will be assessed penalties for not paying enough taxes throughout the year. If you want to com close to breaking even, then claim 1 exemption for every $3400 in planned deductions (personal exemption plus the greater of either the standard deduction or itemized exemptions). In your case (assuming that you don't itemize), if you claim 2, then you will have a small refund. If you claim 3, then you will owe a small amount.

Answer 4

According to the instructions, you should enter two (2), because, no one else can claim you as a dependent and you are single and have only one job. However, (a) if you have a large amount of income that is not from your job (for example, taxable investment income), then enter a lower number [reduce the number of exemptions by one (1) for every $3400 in income that is not from work], and (b) if you have a large amount of itemized deductions, then enter a higher number [increase it by one for every $3400 of deductions over $5,350].


Complete the W-4 as follows:
Line A: Enter “1” for yourself because no one else can claim you as a dependent.
Line B: Enter "1" because you are single and have only one job.
Line C: Enter "0" because you have no spouse.
Line D: Enter "0" because you have no dependents (other than yourself)
Line E: Enter "0" because you are not the head of a multi-person household
Line F: Enter "0" because you have no child or dependent care expenses.
Line G: Enter "0" because you have no children
Line H: Enter the total of lines A-G. 1+1+0+0+0+0=2, so enter 2.

Answer 5

Sounds OK, and they'll take out about the total that you'll owe. You might want to go with 10 instead to be sure not to owe when you file. Don't worry about the lettered worksheet in your situation. Just put the number on line 5.

Answer 6

The more exemptions you claim, the less is taken out of your paycheck. You probably won't get a refund at tax time.

I'm a fan of more exemptions. Basically, with money taken out and then refunded, you're just lending money to the government interest-free. You can take even more than 1.

Answer 7

Single zero, single one and exempt are your choices.

You're very likely going to get back anything you pay in, so it's up to you whether you want the money now or you want to save it up for a big refund.

Single zero will insure that you have the maximum possible taken out of your paycheck and the highest possible refund at the end of the year. Exempt will insure that you have nothing taken out, and you run the risk of having to pay in a little bit when you do your 1040 form.

Answer 8

single and 0 at both jobs = if you file single and 1 at PT job - it probably won't take tax at at same percentage as fulltime job, because of lower weekly/biweekly gross pay = and you could wind up owing tax. Single-0, you'll probably get a small refund

Answer 9

Follow the instructions if you to break even at tax time.