NOTE FOR 2018: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that was recently passed by Congress is going to change the IRS withholding tables and how we fill out W4s. Right now, we are still waiting for the IRS to supply the new withholding tables and create the new W4s. This post is about the old W4. I will be updating this as soon as I have new information. But right now, the information below is for 2017 and earlier. I do not expect the new information to be available until mid February.
-Jan
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how many exemptions to claim on the W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate) form that you give to your employer. People look at the whole 2 page form and get intimidated. For most people—you should just ignore the rest and concentrate on the little part at the bottom of page one. That’s the part in this screen shot up above. It will make your life a whole lot easier.
First, some questions:
I claimed the wrong number of exemptions on my W-4 and now its tax time and I’m going to claim a different number of exemptions. Will I get in trouble for this?
No you won’t. Your employer doesn’t report you to the IRS for not claiming the right amount of allowances. The worst that will happen is that you owe a lot at tax time or get a big refund. (Actually I don’t think of getting a big refund as being a bad thing. Probably shouldn’t call it a “worst case scenario.”) Neither of those things are crimes. It’s possible that the IRS could inform your employer to increase your withholding if the withholding on your W2 is not enough to cover your tax liability. I have never seen that happen to anyone—but the IRS is allowed to do that if they think it’s necessary.
I don’t want any tax taken out of my paycheck. Can I just claim EXEMPT?
No you can’t. Exempt is only for people who will have no tax liability at all. You might have gotten a refund last year, but it doesn’t mean you have no tax liability. Generally, someone with no tax liability makes less than $5,950 for the entire year. For most people, claiming EXEMPT is a really bad idea.
Okay, so what should I claim? Good question. Here’s my suggestion list. See what category fits your best.
You are a student, either in high school or in college. You’re not married and you don’t have kids. Your parents are allowed to claim you on their tax return (you’re under 24 years old.) SINGLE, ZERO ALLOWANCES
You’ve got a job, only one job, you’re living on your own, and you’re single. SINGLE, ONE ALLOWANCE
Now if you have a child, add another allowance for each child. For example, let’s say you’re single with 2 kids, you’d claim single 3 allowances; one allowance for you and one for each of the children.
Single like above but you’re working two different jobs, SINGLE, ZERO ALLOWANCES – because the two jobs kick you into a higher tax bracket than the withholding would show.
You’re married and only one person works: MARRIED, TWO ALLOWANCES
You’re married and you both work—you’ll each have your own W-4 and they will be different
Spouse #1 with higher paying job—claim MARRIED and all the allowances for the family
Spouse #2 with the lower paying job—claim MARRIED BUT WITHHOLD AT HIGHER SINGLE RATE, ZERO ALLOWANCES
Now this is a pretty simplified guide, but it’s much easier to understand than what is on the form. I also find that people are less likely to get into tax trouble with my rules than when you follow the allowances worksheet.
If you want a really good, accurate calculator to figure your proper withholding, the IRS has one on their website. The problem is, as I’m posting this—the calculator is down. You can use this guide for now and you can always tweak your withholding later when it’s back up. Here’s the link: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator
Hi Joanne,
Everything is changing for 2018. The new W4 isn’t out yet. I don’t know who the new W4 is going to shake out yet. Sorry.
Hi Janell,
Just file your taxes. You’ll probably get a nice refund. Then fix your W4. Congratulations on your new baby!
Hi Redonna,
I want to make this really clear: if you and your husband are married and living together – then it is against the law for him to claim head of household filing status on his tax return. That’s tax fraud. Are you hearing this? Are you understanding what I’m telling you? Tax fraud!
Okay, but, what you may have meant, is that your husband is the main bread winner. I’ve had that discussion before too. Many people say “head of household” as the “bringer home of the bacon” and they don’t mean tax fraud. I think the IRS made a stupid mistake labeling a filing status for an unwed parent as head of household because it creates confusion.
So – back to your question, Redonna. You and your husband should file your tax return as married, filing jointly with you claiming your daughter as a dependent on your joint tax return.
I don’t know about changing your withholding. It all sort of depends upon how much money you make. When you do your taxes, if you’ve got a big refund, then I would claim an exemption or two on one of your W4s. If you still owe a bunch, then I’d keep the withholding at zero exemptions and maybe adjust for a little more. You’ll want to look at how the new tax rates will affect your 2018 taxes before you make any big changes.
Hi Zo,
For 2018, I’m thinking it would probably be okay for him to claim exempt. The standard deduction is going up to $12,000 so I’m guessing he’ll make less then that this year. Of course, if you think he’ll make over that, you could have him claim zero exemptions instead, but not many 17 year olds are making over !2,000 a year.
Hi Terrence,
If you have no children, then you should not be filing head of household, you should be filing as single. Claim only 1 exemption on your state and federal W4s.
My husband and I both have our W4’s as Married with 1 exemption. He makes a lot more than I do and his witholdings seem to be accurate. My witholdings are not as accurate, I always end up owing. I’m wondering if I should be claiming married and zero or if I should claim single and 1?
I got a new job October 2017 and accidently filed exempt did not see it until I got my W2. So I am trying to submit a correct w4 now and need help. I am single with one dependent. Am I supposed to leave line C blank? How many allowances will I have?
I am married with one child. I make just a little more than my husband. How should we fill out the W4 regarding exemptions? Our son was born in Oct and we didnt think to amend our W4s. We got very little back on our tax return, it was basically just the child tax credit.
I have a question. I have been claiming 0 on my w4 for years. I have a 2 yr old and a 17 yr old..I make more than my husband and I just changed my w4 to 1 instead of 0 this year. My husband claims 1 on his w4…With me changing my w4 from 0 to 1 is that going to affect me next year when we file our taxes..I am so confused about this w4
Help I claimed exempt for a year and I ha e a baby and 7 year old what’s likely to happen. I will claim both day cares I pay out of pocket plz help
Hi Jan,
My husband and I both have our W-4s with 0 deductions. He is the head of household. We have an 18 year old college student that lives at home. I claim her on my taxes since my husband is her step-father. Should either of us change our W-4 to 1 instead of 0?
my son is 17 im filing him on my tax returns he claim 0 on his w4 should he change his this year to to exempt or dont
Hey Jan… I’m single, own a home, one job making 70,000 a year. should i claim 1 exemption for myself and one for head of household for a total of 2 exemptions? Or just 1 exemption for single. Live in Connecticut should i flie single on state form or head of household?? Thank you!
Hi Alzena,
So are you and the father married? I’m guessing the answer is no so you would claim head of household on your taxes too. Seven is probably just fine. I’m guessing that you still get a refund, so I wouldn’t worry about it. Of course, the W4 is going to change, but I don’t have that new information yet.
Hi, sorry to crowd this comment feed. I have 2 young children and my household consists of the three of us plus their father. I am HOH on the lease and the only one who is employed. I claimed 7 exemptions, which has always seemed too high, but no matter how I calculate it I get the same answer. Am I doing something wrong?
Hi Mike,
So you make about $150,000 and your wife makes around $30,000. So I’m guessing that you’re in the 28% tax bracket. And your withholding was fine because you claimed yourself and the kids and you got full benefit of all the lower tax brackets as well. But, now we add you’re wife’s income – all of the zero percent, 10%, and 25% tax bracket got used up by you. So all (or most) of her income is in the 28% tax bracket!
She claimed 4 exemptions, one for hear and for each of the three kids. So as far as the charts are concerned, the only income is $30,000 for a family of 4 – which could have her withholding at close to zero. For her withholding to be right, she needs to claim -married but withhold at the higher single rate, with zero exemptions.
Hi Caitlyn,
It’s 2018, I’m confused now too. They say the old W4s should work with the new tax tables, but I can’t see how that is. With the old W4 – you’d be claiming 10 exemptions – and that always makes me a little uncomfortable. Yes, you should get a child tax credit – but you don’t get exemptions for the children any more. But using the old guidelines:
If you want line C – well that’s 0 because you are not married, right?
For line D, you have 3 children, so that’s 3 dependents. I’m assuming that you claim them on your taxes.
Line G is the child tax credit. Claim 2 for each child, minus 1. 3 kids times 2 equals 6 minus 1 = 5.
So, 1 for you, 3 for the kinds, 1 for claiming head of household, plus 5 for the child tax credit. The old way would be 10. I just don’t trust that for 2018. Maybe do 8 and look at it again in May after the dust has settled. You’ve got three kids to feed so you want as much in your check as possible, I just don’t want you owing next year either.
Sorry, it sounds like I’m guessing. Oh–that’s because I am!
My wife and I both work. I make more money than her….about 5x more in salary. On our W4s the only exemption she claimed was our 3 children (which we both claimed). My tax rate came back perfectly normal, in fact I paid more than I should have. However her’s was way off. She significantly underpaid her Fed Tax Withheld. Her salary is in the low 30’s, would the 3 exemptions have that much affect on her Fed Tax Withheld or is it possible there was a clerical error? Her Social Security and Medicare were fine.
Im single and have 3 children and I only have one job making less than 70k. I am confused on how to fill out the w-4 my employer gave me. Not sure what I should enter on line C,D and G. Please help
Hi Dylan,
The IRS is changing the whole withholding and exemption thing. They haven’t given us their new guidelines. But in general, the lower the number of exemptions, the bigger the refund. The more exemptions, the more you get in your paycheck. But with 2018- things are changing so much – it’s hard to tell exactly how much you’re going to get. Here’s my knee jerk suggestion – claim 7. You should still get a refund, but you’ll have more money in your paycheck in case you need it.
Now, if you really want to make your wife happy – figure what your paycheck would be like if you claimed zero exemptions, but still claim 7. Then, take the difference each pay period and put it into a savings account. That way you’ve got the cash if you need it for an emergency. Wow, you’re the hero. But if you don’t need the cash – then you’ve got this awesome savings account that you can show your wife next year when your refund isn’t as high as she wants it to be. Win Win!
Hi Trisha,
The IRS is changing the whole exemption thing and they don’t have their new forms yet. You were probably just fine claiming 6 for 2017. I’m not sure how the new withholding tables are going to work with the new exemption schedule. The IRS is saying don’t change. I’m posting this on 1/24/2018 – because I suspect the IRS will change that announcement.
Hi Elle,
How about you just do your taxes and find out?
I requested 9 exemptions on my W4 when i began working for my employer in March of 2017. My tax return this year is MUCH less than it was last year even though i added another child into the mix. My wife wants me to claim 0 exemptions, however my employer says to claim 8 instead of 9. What is the right course of action to maximize a refund, as we rely on the refund to clear up annual debts on credit cards, loans etc.
If you have any input please let me know!
Living with boyfriend who is father of my child. I work part time and he has no income. Number of allowances 2? Myself and my daughter? What about for being head of household? For some reason I claimed six allowances last year because I felt that each condition applied to me. So confused.
I am single with no kids and I claimed 3 exemptions on my W-4 . Will I end up paying or will I get a refund?
Hi Candi,
I honestly don’t know. It all depends upon how many children you actually have and how much money you make. It’s already tax time so the best way to figure that out is to do your taxes. You can check out 1040.com for free. They even have a caclulator to help see what kind of refund you’ll get even if you’re not ready to file yet. Do Your Own Taxes Online
Hi Hanna,
You shouldn’t get penalized for that. Worst case scenario is that you and your husband have a balance due for 2017 But the IRS isn’t going to come after you or anything like that.
HI IM CANDI, I AM A SINGLE MOM AND CLAIMED 5 DEPENDENTS ON MY PAYCHECKS ALL YEAR LONG. WILL THAT REFECT ON ME GETTING A REFUND OR WILL I EVEN GET ONE?
I am married,no kids. My husband makes enough money to pay for everything and I just work part time and I make less than $6,000 a year,so I put exempt on my w4 and box 2 on my w2 is blank,will I get penalized for that? I am not claiming exempt for 2018
Hi Elisabeth,
The only upside to claiming 2 exemptions is the larger paycheck and smaller refund. If you like how things are right now, then keep it up. (To be honest, I like getting a refund too, but us tax people are supposed to optimize for a zero refund.)
As far as the new tax rules go – the new withholding tables just got published, but the new W4 forms haven’t come out yet. For most people, it looks like they will save some money on taxes or stay the same. I’ve run a couple of scenarios where the taxes went up, but most people will come out ahead or at the worst stay the same. If you don’t itemize on your return, I suspect you’ll come out just fine in 2018. The IRS is supposed to have a new 2018 tax calculator on it’s website coming in February. You’ll be able to run your numbers and see where you’ll stand then.
Hi Rebecca,
The W2 is the document you receive that shows your income. Box 1 would show how much money you made, so that should not be blank. Box 2 – the amount of federal withholding show show zero, but it might be blank because there was no withholding.
Hi Autumn,
The new W4 forms have not been designed yet. My best guess for you is to claim zero exemptions since your husband is claiming you and the kids with his. The IRS should have a new withholding calculator on their website in February. That might give you a better answer once it’s available.
Right now we are married, one paycheck, and claim 0 dependents. We normally get a nice-sized return at the end of the year, and that works well for us. With the personal exemptions going away, will our return get smaller, or be offset by the tax % drop? I guess I don’t understand where we are going to see this savings – on the paycheck or on the return. Also, is there an upside to claiming 2 as you suggest, other than a larger paycheck and smaller return?
If a person claims ‘Exempt’ on their W4 should Box 1 of the W2 be blank?
Hi, So I just started working on 8 Jan 2018. I didn’t work for the entire year of 2017 and my husband claimed myself and my two children. Now that I am working, they are asking for exemptions for me. What do I need to put down since he has 4 on his? Also, should he change his to reflect only him and I claim the children on my to make it 3?
Hi Christina,
Since Congress passed the new tax plan, I know that things are going to be changing very soon. The IRS is still working on new withholding tables and they’re redesigning the W4 for the new tax law. Anything I tell you today is probably going to be garbage in a few weeks. I would guess – and really, I’m guessing, you’d claim 3? You’ll be getting a child tax credit for each of the children. So even though you won’t get an exemption for them, you’ll still get something for claiming the kids. But like I said, I’m shooting from the hip here. Sorry, I wish I had more information for you, but right now I really don’t.
Hello, Single mom here with 2 kids and working a full-time job. Wondering what i should be putting down on my W-4 for allowances?
Hi Ray,
so on that line you would enter 2. But the whole W4 thing is going to change later this month so you might want to wait on that.
Hi Lindsey,
In addition to the child tax credit, you may also qualify for the earned income tax credit. You might be just fine.
Hi Michelle,
You weren’t exempt, you just didn’t make enough to require withholding. You might actually get a refund anyway, you may qualify for EIC or at least the child tax credit.
Hi Amal,
Most likely. Between the child tax credits, your head of household filing status, and maybe even some EIC you probably are fine with no withholding.
Hi Bill,
Thanks. Yep, that pretty much works for me too.
Hi Bill,
Well, everything’s changing for 2018. The IRS will have their new W4s and the withholding rates should be out by mid February. If the jobs only last three months – it could be they get away with claiming 9 because they don’t make enough over the whole year for there to be tax. But if you’re working 4 of those jobs – basically working the whole year, I’m pretty sure 9 would be not enough withholding.
the child tax credit
it says “If your total income will be less than $70,000 ($100,000 if married), enter “2” for each eligible child; then less “1” if you have two to four eligible children or less “2” if you have five or more eligible children.”
I make less than &70,000, im single and only have 1 child. so according to the statement will i be entering 2 or 1?
I have a child so I know I get the child tax credit, but I claimed 5 exemptions for federal and state, will I owe. I don’t have a big income, getting paid 12.50 a hour. Can you help me.
Hi, SINGLE 2 DEPENDENTS HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD.. SO going through my paperwork I just realized when I started my job in April no taxes have been taken out all year… My insurance and Social Security have been taken out all year, but no taxes. Apparenty I was exempt??? Does this mean I wont owe any taxes, but also not getting a refund.
So, I’ve been freaking out. I know I did my w4 correctly because its how I’ve always done it. I ended up with 6 exemptions. I’m technically single with 2 kids. However, they haven’t withheld anything all year. I did a thing on turbo to see with my withholdings, exemptions and how much I made this year what I will get back and it still says ill get a decent return without owing. Is that correct?
Here we go I finally found the explanationtion for how many allowances to claim. There’s two calculators but I found it easier to go off table A and B. Just find your income bracket, then it tells how much each allownaces is worth that you claim. If your in the lowest bracket and you figure you going to get $900 back and each allowance is worth $405 then you could go up two allowances and still be safe. I’m not sure if this is before or after the new tax law but it’s in turbo tax so it seems like they should have updated it.
Please correct me if I’m wrong about this, this is just what I took away from it.
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/tax-refund/fatten-your-paycheck-and-still-get-a-tax-refund/L5HaySdDP
I’m sorry I take the standard deduction I believe it is and that’s it
Hi Jan bill again. No deductions. These are turn around jobs that only last 3 months. Everyone there that’s been doing this a long time that’s single and doesn’t have kids claims 9 but I think they do that because of a stigma history if the don’t go over 10 because it’s reported to the IRS but I read employers no longer have to report over 10. I went on to one if the tax calculaors or whatever there called and it only went up to 10 but I still got a refund at 10. I think the whole 0, 1, or 2 is a big misconception, when I first heard 9 I was laughing and made fun if the guys but so many if them we’re doing it and swore by it I did it and git the most money back in my paycheck I ever have. I want to find the perfect sweet spot though.