I claimed 0 on my W-4...?

Question

when I got hired for a job at an AMC theater yesterday. One of the managers was helping me and another new hire out, and she was saying that 0 would have the government take more out now, but give me more back later, or something like that, so I just claimed 0. Was that the right thing to do? I'm an 18-year-old still living with my parents, and I'm a full-time college student

Also, how much is the government gonna take out of each paycheck? Let's say I work 20 hours a week, at $8/hr, which = $320 per bi-weekly paycheck. How much of it will they take out?

EDIT: Hey twinkly, if you don't have anything to contribute, then don't f-cking answer with just "idk", just to get your 2 points, damn I hate people like that

Thanks for the paycheckcity.com link, it looks like my paycheck would be around $270

And yeah, I know it's a minimum wage job, I just want some money for gas, and food, and money for my wants as well as my needs. My parents are paying for my tuition and everything, and I just want to carry some of the load

Answer 1

The biggest reason to claim 0 is so that you don't owe anything at the end of the year, and its nice that you get a big check too. But if you need the money more throughout the year then you would claim more dependents, but u gotta be careful with that, you do not wanna owe. And some people think its better to claim dependents throughout the year because you can put the money in a savings account or invest it and earn interest, because the IRS doesn't pay interest on the money they're "holding" for you.

Answer 2

That is correct - if you claim 0 you will have the most taken out resulting in the biggest refund. There's tax tables at the IRS's website that will tell you what will be deducted. Based on these tables you would have $21.00 taken out.

But why let the IRS hold your money for a whole year interest free? Claim 1 exemption instead and only $8.00 would be taken out - meaning $338 more in your pocket over a year.

When you file your taxes for 2007 you need to check with your parents as to whether or not they're claiming you as a dependent on their return. If so then you won't end up getting back as much taxes since they're claiming you.

Answer 3

As an 18-year-old college student, still living with your parents, I would suggest you amend your W-4 and claim at least one exemption. I might even claim two.

True, by claiming no exemptions, you will probably be entitled to a refund on your 2007 tax return, but why let the government use your money when you are entitled to it now. The government is not going to pay you any interest for your allowing them to use your money.

Total taxes on $320 per week will be around 12 to 15%--that includes state tax. Don't allow anyone to use your earned money tax free!

Answer 4

Claiming zero is something that the IRS would recommend you do since they get to live fat off of the interest until such time as you file your return to get it all back. The better way to go would be to get as much of your money as you can, put it into a savings account and if you have to pay what little taxes that you might owe once a year so that you are getting the interest instead of the Government. Not that a minimum wage job will make you a lot of money...

Answer 5

I would say stay with 0. Once you starting getting into claiming 1 or maybe even 2, you start risking maybe having to pay when you submit your taxes.

Check out this site to figure your paycheck. It's always been within pennies when I've used it...
http://paycheckcity.com/netpaycalc/netpaycalculator.asp

Answer 6

You didn't say what state you are in, but there is a great website you can use to calculate your net pay. I'm giving it as my source, below. Use the personal paycheck calculator.

If you claim 0 exemptions, then you may be making an interest-free loan to the government, since they don't pay you anything on what you overpaid.

Answer 7

Claiming zero is correct. Your parents can still claim you on their taxes until you either finish school or turn 24, so you can't claim yourself.

You might get a little back of what they take out, but not all of it if you work all year. For this year, if you weren't working until now, you should get everything back that they take out for federal income tax withholding. You won't get back what they take out for social security and medicare. Depending on where you live, you might or might not get back some of what's taken out for state and federal taxes.

Good luck on the job and on your studies.

Answer 8

Michael Moore and Roger Williams asked the same question. You should read their answers side by side.

Answer 9

Don't believe that is right