How many exemptions can I take- And still receive a refund?

Question

Here are a few details...
Unmarried w/ 1 child
Share house and bills w/ someone else (not sure if I can claim H.O.H)
Salary 21,840/year (allows me to claim E.I.C)

I want to get the most possible back each week. Yet I do not want to owe any taxes in April. I also do not want to claim too many exemptions that it sends a red flag to the IRS.

For my understanding, please explain why I can claim these
exemptions.

Thank you

Answer 1

You can only claim head of household if you can show that you pay OVER half of the costs of maintaining the home where your dependent child lives.

Between EIC and the child tax credit, I can't imagine you'd owe anything in April. Assuming your child is under 17 and is your dependent, the child tax credit should wipe out most or all of your tax liability.

Using the worksheet, you could claim one for yourself, one for your child, and two additional allowances if you are eligible for the child tax credit (the child is under 17 and is your dependent), for a total of 4. This would still likely give you a small refund in addition to EIC. It's possible to get EIC paid to you through the year rather than at the end - it's called Advanced EIC.

Good luck.

Answer 2

One of the easiest ways to figure the amount you need to have taken out of your checks is to get something like turbo tax. the cheapest version you can find or even see if someone will let you load theirs from last year. It won't be accurate of course but it will give you a pretty close estimate on what you will owe for this year if you do a good estimate on your expenses for this year. I'm not positive on how many deductions you can claim on your paycheck but i don't think it matters as long as you remember you can only claim what you actually have when you file. I've never heard of the 500.00 refund thing but who knows with IRS I have gotten back way over 500.00 for 25-30 years and never had any problems. I mean it's a no interest loan to the gov. so i don't know why they would complain. I do know that you are supposed to pay in 90% of what you owe or you could get a penalty for under payment. There is usually no problem unless you do it year after year.

Answer 3

You can claim H.O.H., but if you are trying to get more money now than you should only claim your child and self. If you claim more and don't have those other dependents when you do your taxes than you may end up paying the government back. A lot of people don't understand that when they file. When you file you taxes make sure you have your daycare receipts. Good luck.

Answer 4

Figure your approx taxes you will owe at the end of the year, You are allowed to take two exemptions, for you and the child, yes you can file HOH no matter where you live, and you can take one extra on your W-4 if you will have enough taken out to cover your taxes within $100.00........Do you know that you can be fined for getting back more than $500.00 refund? The IRS usually don't do it, but they can. Why do you want to let them keep your money all year for no interest anyway, just to get a big refund..........########