Category: Individual Taxes

Posted on by Jan Roberg

Tax Tips for Performers

Are You A Hobby or a Business?

Many performers don’t think they have a real business – they’re just doing a few shows on the side, it really is more of a hobby than a business.  And if you’re just getting paid in cash by private citizens that’s fine, you can get away taxwise with being a hobby.  But, if you’re working through a company and you earn over $600 in a year, then you’re required by law to receive a form called a 1099NEC.  And if you receive a 1099NEC, the IRS pretty much treats you like a business. 

So the question becomes, at what point does your performing become a business instead of a hobby?  A lot of your decision may be based on taxes.

 

Hobby Income Taxes  

Hobby income is taxed at your regular income tax rate.  It goes on line 8 on the Schedule 1 of the 1040 tax return.  Now in the past, you might have been able to deduct some of your hobby expenses but that option is no longer available.   So, if your federal income tax rate is 22%, and you earned $5,000 on your performing, then your tax on that $5,000 will be $1,100.

 

Business Income Taxes  

Business income is taxed at your regular tax rate plus the self-employment rate.  The self-employment rate is 15.3%.  So, if you’re in the 22% tax bracket, the tax rate on your performing income would be 37.3%.  That means that the $5,000 you made income would now be taxed $1,865.  Which sounds awful at first blush.

But the advantage to being taxed as a business is that you get to write off your business expenses directly against your income.  Let’s say you had $3,000.00 in business expenses, then your tax would only be $746.

 ($5,000 income – $3,000 expenses = $2,000 net income to tax)

($2,000 taxable income x 37.3 percent tax rate = $746 in taxes)

If you have business expenses, being able to claim your performance income as a business can be a good thing.  This is especially true if you have a business loss.  You can use your self -employed business loss to offset other income – like wages you receive from another job – on your tax return.  Be sure to read about QBI further on though because there’s more to business taxes than just this.)

1099NEC   If you receive a 1099 NEC, the IRS will automatically count you as being self-employed – even if you have another job somewhere else. 

 

 

What will be different about your tax return if you’re a professional performer instead of a hobby performer?

 

You won’t need to incorporate or file a special business return.  Most people will just include their performance income on a Schedule C form which becomes part of your 1040 tax return.  It will show your business income and expenses. 

Form Schedule SE will show your self-employment tax owed.

 

Common Tax Deductions for most Small Businesses

 

Most small businesses have these deductions on their tax returns:

  • Advertising
  • Home Office expense
  • Mileage
  • Supplies, etc.

The important thing to know is that as far as the IRS is concerned, you may deduct an expense that is ordinary and necessary to your business.

A few exceptions to the ordinary and necessary:  you might need nice clothes for an audition or an interview show – but clothing that you can wear in a normal situation cannot be deducted.  It’s one of the most common questions I get which is why I put it up here.  Costumes, on the other hand, are deductible.

 

Your two best Tax Deductions

 

The two best tax deductions for a small business owner are the Mileage and Home Office (Studio) deductions.  These deductions are great because they are expenses that you already are paying for anyway.

 

Mileage

If you want to claim mileage, you must keep a mileage log.  For every business audit I have ever worked on – the IRS requested the mileage log.  The IRS wants to know how many total miles you put on the car, not just your business miles.  This is the most forgotten about issue but it’s really helpful to know.  You can get a free mileage log on our download page

Super Silly Tax Tip:  When you’re watching the Rose Parade (or football game or something that you know you do every year) write down the mileage on your odometer on January 1st and stick that number with your tax records. This way you’ll be able to figure your total mileage for the year – just subtract last year’s odometer.

 

 

Home Office

 You don’t need a desk and a computer for your home office.  It could be a storage space for your supplies, the place where you do your work, or the room you keep your product or supplies in.   It doesn’t have to be a separate room in your house, it can be a section of a larger room.  It can also be very small. 

The most important reason for claiming a home office is so that you can claim your mileage to your gigs.  The important issue is “regular and exclusive”.  Maybe you work in your kitchen – that’s fine but you can’t claim your kitchen as a home office because you cook dinner there.  You have to use a space exclusively for your business in order to deduct it.  So, if you work in your kitchen, you need another space to maybe store your supplies that you can claim as your “exclusive” working space.

 

 

Should you become an LLC?  

Generally, performers tend to be “individuals”.  An LLC is not required.  An LLC is a limited liability company.  The idea is that your liability – meaning if someone wants to sue you – is limited.  If you decide to become a Limited Liability Company anyway there are rules you must follow.

 

  1. Get a Federal EIN number.
  2. Set up a bank account for the LLC.
  3. Run all of your business income and expenses through that bank account.

If you don’t do all those steps, you’ve “pierced the veil” of the LLC and you’re just wasting your time and money.

“Piercing the veil” means that someone could still sue you personally even though you have an LLC.   If you’re not going to bother with the separate bank account and getting a separate EIN number, you’re not protected by your LLC. 

In most cases, a decent business insurance policy might be all you need.  But if you decide you want to set up an LLC, it only costs $50 in the state of Missouri.  It only takes about 10 minutes to do it online. 

If you choose to become an LLC unless you make a special election to be taxed differently, you would still claim your business income on a Schedule C like an individual.

 

 

DBA Doing Business As  

You might have a business name that you want people to use, like “Willie’s Writings”.  You can file paperwork for “doing business as” with the Secretary of State’s office.  It only costs $7.00.  That way you can receive checks under your business name instead of your own name.

 

A word about making Estimated Tax Payments

 

If your business is successful, you’re going to be making money.  And if you make money – you have to pay taxes.  If you’re going to have a tax balance due of more than $1000.00 federal, you should start making estimated tax payments.   A good rule of thumb – if you make over $6,000.00 after deducting your expenses then you should make estimated payments.

It’s easy. You can go online at IRS.gov and click on “Pay”.

 

The Qualified Business Income Deduction

QBI – What you need to know about your business income for 2021

As a small business owner, there is something called the Qualified Business Income Deduction.  QBI for short.  QBI is a 20% deduction off your business income from your taxable income.  It’s really pretty awesome.

Simply speaking – remember that example above where you have $5,000 of income, but after expenses you only had $2,000 of taxable income?  Well, with the QBI deduction, you still pay your self-employment tax on the full $2,000 – so that’s 15.3% = $306.

But then, you get to deduct 20% from the $2,000 before you pay the regular tax.  In this example you’d take 2000 – 400 = 1600, then take 1600 times 22% and you get $352.  So, really, instead of paying $746 like in the earlier example, you’ll only pay $658 – a savings of $88.  

That doesn’t seem like much, but if you had a net income of $50,000, at the 22% tax bracket you’d be saving $2,200!  The QBI can be a really important tool for you. 

But not everyone can qualify for the QBI deduction.  For an automatic QBI deduction – meaning – you don’t have to jump through any hoops to qualify, a single person would have to have income below $164,900.  A married person would need to be below $329,800.

You might be thinking – I’m just starting out as a performer, I’m not Johnny Depp.  I don’t make anywhere near those numbers.  But I’m talking about your total income.  So, if you’ve got a day job, or a spouse with a high income, your QBI deduction could be lost.  (For what it’s worth, Johnny Depp doesn’t make anywhere near $329,800 – he makes a lot more!)

But there are strategies for QBI if your income exceeds those limitations.  That’s where it makes sense to talk with your accountant about what’s best for your situation. That’s really outside the scope of this little blog post.

 

 

Posted on by Jan Roberg

Tax Planning Isn’t Rocket Science, But it Can Save You Money!

Tax planning can save you money.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do a little planning ahead to save big dollars on your tax return.

Today I want to talk about tax planning, and  why it’s so important.

 

I recently got a call from a woman who wanted to take $30,000 out of her IRA to buy something special.  She went to her financial planner to take the money out and he told her that she needed to take another $7500 out just to cover her taxes, but to talk to a tax person first.  So she called me.

 

Well, I ran the numbers for her and if she took $37,500 out of her IRA , it was going to cost her over $9,000 in state and federal taxes combined.  Even though she would be withholding $7500 for her federal taxes, she’d still have to come up with another $2000 to be whole.  Then we started talking.

 

You see, she didn’t need to make the purchase right away, she was just thinking about it.  So I decided to see what would happen if we split the $30,000  between 2013 and 2014, $15,000 each year.  What a difference!  Instead of paying over $9000, she’ pay $688 per year total for her state and federal income  taxes combined.  That wasn’t a typo–six hundred and eighty-eight dollars a year.  $1376 total tax for a savings of over $8000!

 

So by waiting for another 60 days to take half the money she wanted out of her IRA she’d save $8000.  How cool is that?

 

In fairness, the woman’s particular situation just put her into a sweet zone for this to work out so well.  For many people, splitting up the IRA withdrawal  would not save them any taxes at all.  But my point is–how do you know?   By taking the time to ask–she saved $8000.

 

What’s going on in your life that could benefit from a little tax planning?  Selling some stocks or mutual funds?  Donating to charity?  Do you own a small
business?   Are you getting married?  Getting divorced?  Having a baby?  Getting a new job?  Buying a home?  Any of these events, and many more, could use
a little tax planning.

 

My business card says, “If you don’t have a tax strategy, you’re probably paying too much.”    It’s true.  So often in my job, I’m trying to help people who’ve already made decisions and come to me when its’ too late to make changes.  Why would you want to give the IRS more money then you need to?  It’s not rocket science, it’s just common sense.   The best way to keep more of your money is to make a plan for keeping it.  Call me.  I can help.

Posted on by Jan Roberg

Extreme Makeover Home Edition TV Show—Tax Issues

Ever watch those reality TV shows and wonder how the winners pay their taxes? You’ve probably heard about Richard Hatch, the “Survivor” winner who wound up going to jail for not paying taxes on his winnings from that show. And what about the “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” people? They basically live in shacks that get remade into mansions. Those people are poor and they’re not getting cash money, so how do they pay the taxes on their new homes? I’ve got some answers for you.

Generally, if you win money or prizes on a game show, the money or the cash value of the prize is taxable to you on your personal income tax return. That’s why if you’re ever on a game show and your choice is the prize or the cash, my advice is to take the cash so that you can pay the tax.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition is a little different. The winners usually don’t get cash and the value of the makeover can be worth over a million dollars, so how do those people deal with the taxes? The answer: they don’t. You see, according to IRS regulations, if a tenant makes improvements to a landlord’s property, the landlord is not required to pay tax on the property improvement made by the tenant. When Extreme Makeover comes knocking at the door, they sign a lease that says they’re renting the property from the homeowner. That makes those crazy improvements they do tax free!

There’s also a whole lot of things that go on during that week that you don’t get to see. For example: when you watch the show, you see them putting up one home. In reality, they’re shooting two shows at once and Ty Pennington and the other stars are racing back and forth between two home building sites. Putting up one home in a week would make me dizzy, I can’t imagine working on two at a time.

Another issue that they have to settle before a family is selected is the mortgage. ABC actually works with the mortgage holders of the properties to make sure they won’t foreclose on the winners after the project is done. Sometimes on the show you’ll see a scene where the mortgage is forgiven by the bank. That too would create a tax situation for the winner, but once again, Extreme Home Makeover has done their tax homework. When a mortgage debt is for the purchase or improvement of a taxpayer’s main home, then when the debt is forgiven. That debt forgiveness is excluded from the income at tax time, so the Extreme Makeover winners don’t pay tax on their debt forgiveness either!

Another big win that you see a lot on Extreme Makeover is some local college will grant scholarships to the kids. Once again, college scholarships aren’t taxable, ka-ching! I love this show.

Now sometimes you’ll see a family get a car or something else—that is still taxable and when that happens, the winner will get a 1099MISC for the value of the prize.

When it comes to the best bang for the buck, Extreme Makeover Home Edition gets the prize for the best tax-advantaged reality show on TV.

Posted on by Jan Roberg

Filing and Paying Taxes in the United States

If you are working in the United States, you should expect to pay US income taxes.

                               The United States government taxes the worldwide income of its citizens and residents.

 

If you plan on working in the United States, here are some things you need to know about the US federal income tax system.

 

The United States taxes residents differently from non-residents, so the first thing you need to do is determine if you’re considered to be a resident or not. Generally, if you’re in the US temporarily because you’re a student, teacher, trainee, foreign government employee or a relative of one of those, then you’re considered to be a non-resident. These Visas are usually labelled as F, J, M, or Q. If you fall into this category, you’re considered to be a “non-resident”. You will file a tax form called 1040NR.  This post is mostly about filing a tax return as a resident, a regular 1040 form.

 

If you are in the US on a regular working Visa (such as an H1) there are two ways to be considered a resident for income tax purposes. One is to have a green card—this form shows that you are a lawful, permanent resident of the United States. The other way to be considered a resident is to meet what’s known as the substantial presence test.  The quick and dirty way to figure that out is to ask yourself if you were here for over 183 days this year.  If the answer is, “yes” then you can be considered a resident.  I’ve attached a substantial presence test questionnaire at the bottom of this post for anyone who needs a more accurate determination, especially if your time here crosses over two or more calendar years.

 

Qualifying as a US resident usually reduces your American income taxes. The biggest benefit is being able to claim the same “standard deduction” that US citizens claim. The standard deduction is a portion of your income that the government doesn’t tax. Also, as a resident, if you are married, you can file your tax return as “married filing jointly” which gives you a larger standard deduction and a lower general tax rate. For many people, being able to claim “resident” will reduce your taxes.

 

The downside of being a “resident” is that the United States government taxes the world wide income of its citizens and residents. Let’s say you move to America from France where you earned an income equal to $50,000 USD. You move to the US in June and work for 7 months, easily qualifying you to be a US resident for income tax purposes. While in the US you earn an additional $50,000 USD for a combined global income of $100,000 USD.   You do not want to pay US income taxes on the $50,000 USD that you earned in France!

 

You have two options in this situation: One, you could file a “dual status alien” return— this would make you a US resident for the 7 months that you were here and a non-resident for the 5 months that you were in France. You would not get the full benefit of the resident deductions, but it would save you from being taxed on your French income. The second option would be to file as a US resident and claim a credit for the foreign taxes paid. If you come from a country where your taxes are equal to or higher than in the US, this is a good option for you. If you come from a country with lower taxes, you might be better off claiming the dual status alien. You do not have to decide this now, you can have your tax preparer work out the numbers for you both ways and choose which option works best for you.

 

A note about hiring a tax preparer in the US.  There are many companies that have shops where you can pay someone to prepare your income tax return for you. These are for profit companies, not government agencies, and they expect you to pay them for the service. Most of them do not prepare 1040NR returns, or dual status alien returns at all. If they see that you qualify to be treated as a resident, they will want to proceed with filing your return as a resident. If you had no income in your home country, this is not a problem, and you can feel comfortable filing a US resident return. If you had income in your home country, make sure that the person you are dealing with understands “dual status alien” and “foreign tax credits”. Many tax preparers, especially the ones that set up temporary kiosks in the shopping center, have not been trained in these areas, and it’s essential to you that you hire someone knowledgeable about tax issues for foreign persons.

 

A common question is: what if I just don’t report my foreign income? How will the IRS know? The IRS has treaties with several countries and there is a great deal of information sharing. Although it seems impossible that the IRS could find out about someone’s foreign wages, when they do have that information, the fines and penalties for not reporting your income are severe. I recommend filing an honest and accurate return, then you’ll never lose sleep worrying about it.

 

A few other things you should know about income taxes in the United States.  Our tax year ends on December 31st.  Your income tax form is due by April 15th of the next year.  Most states, and even some cities also have their own income tax forms that need to be completed and usually are due at the same time as your federal tax return.  Make sure to file all of the returns you need to file, not just the federal.  And the US government also wants to know about your foreign bank accounts.  Even if you don’t have any taxable income from them, if you have over $10,000 USD equivalent in a foreign bank, you’ll be expected to report that bank account in an FBAR form.

 

And probably one of the most confusing things about US income taxes is that different circumstances generate different income tax rates.  So you and your best friend could be working at the same job and making the exact same amount of money and withholding the exact same amount of tax – and one of you could wind up owing the IRS and the other one could get a huge refund.  It happens all the time.  There are different tax rates for married people than for single people, and there are special tax credits for children and all of those things affect what your tax bill will be.

 

My best advice is that if you are new to the United States, it’s a good idea to get some professional help with filing your US tax return.  It will cost you some money to have this done, but it will give you peace of mind.

 

 

Substantial Presence Test (You can also find this on the IRS website) to determine if you can qualify to file your tax return as a US resident.

You must pass both the 31-day and 183-day tests.

31 day test: Were you present in United States 31 days during current year?

183 day test: [If you weren’t here for the full 183 days during the current year, the time you spent here in prior years counts towards your being deemed a resident.]

Current year days in United States x 1 =_____days [the days you spent here during this year count as full days]

B. First preceding year days in United States x 1/3 =_____days  [the days you spent here last year only count as 1/3 days.  So if you were here last year for one month (30 days) then it only counts as 10 days]

C. Second preceding year days in United States x 1/6 =_____days    [the farther back the time, the less it counts.  Two years ago only count as 1/6 of the days, so a month then counts for 5 days.]

D. Total Days in United States =_____days (add lines A, B, and C)

If line D equals or exceeds 183 days, you have passed the183-day test.

Exceptions: Do not count days of presence in the U.S. during which:
you are a commuter from a residence in Canada or Mexico;
you are in the U.S. less than 24 hours in transit;
you are unable to leave the U.S. due to a medical condition that developed in the U.S.;
you are an exempt individual; [basically that’s an F, J, M, or Q visa]
you are a regular member of the crew of a foreign vessel traveling between the U.S. and a foreign country or a possession of the U.S. (unless you are otherwise engaged in conducting a trade or business in the U.S.)

Posted on by Jan Roberg

Tax Tips for Newlyweds

tax tips for newlyweds

Danielle and Jeremy

Updated for 2013

Congratulations on getting married!  It’s so fun to start out your new life together, but it’s a big adjustment too.  One of those really difficult adjustments is learning a new phrase, “Our money.”  You already know “your” money and “my” money, but the whole “our” money concept is a little difficult to grasp sometimes.  Hopefully, this will help with the tax side of that at least.

Pick the right filing status:   It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been married for, if you were married on December 31st you are considered married for tax filing purposes.  For most couples, your best bet is to choose the Married Filing Jointly tax status, it will usually give you the best tax rate.   There are times though, when it may make sense to use the married filing separately status.  For example:  if one of you has an income tax problem from before the marriage, it might make sense to file separately until the tax issue is cleared up.  Many accountants will tell you to just file jointly and file an injured spouse claim.  I often recommend that too.  But if filing separately isn’t going to hurt your taxes very much, I prefer keeping your tax matters completely separated until the old tax issues are erased.  It’s just a safety precaution.  When you file separately, you know exactly what money you’ll get back from the IRS, when you file as injured spouse, the IRS makes the determination.  I prefer keeping the control.

Now that you’re married, you cannot claim the Head of Household filing status. This is a common problem that I see with tax returns all the time.  Couples who have been together for years and have a couple of kids decide to get married.  They forget to change their filing status on their tax forms after they get married.  Oops.  Not only is it a mistake, but if you received benefits that you wouldn’t have gotten if you filed as married, then it’s considered income tax fraud.  Don’t fall into that trap.  Be sure to use one of the married filing statuses.  (If the marriage goes belly up and you separate for the last 6 months of the year, then you might be able to file as HH, but this is the newlywed page.)

The good, the bad, and the ugly:  The good part about married filing jointly is that you double your exemption and your standard deduction.  Also, your tax rate is lowered.  If you’re a newlywed and one of you is the wage earner and the other had little or no income, you’re going to have a great tax year.

The bad part is that with most young married couples today, both spouses are working.  Your deductions may go up but really you’re just combining your two incomes so you really get no major tax break at all for being married.

Now here’s the ugly:  For some couples getting married actually puts them in a worse tax situation than when they were single.  For example, let’s day that Danielle and Jeremy were both in the 15% tax bracket when they were single, but combining their incomes puts them in the 25% tax bracket.  If they didn’t make adjustments to their withholding, they could get hit with a nasty little tax bill in April.

Here are some other issues that you might not have thought about yet.  First to the bride, did you change your name?  If so, did you make it official with social security yet?  If yes, then you’ll be able to file your tax return with your new name.  If not, make sure that you use your old name to e-file your tax return. If you don’t use the name that the social security office has on record for you, your tax return will be rejected.

The stupid question:  Whose name is going to go on the top of the form?  I warned you it was a stupid question.  Does it matter?  No.  What does matter is that the name that’s on the top of the form will stay there.  Some couples, especially if they have equal incomes, will change which name goes on top each year, seems fair doesn’t it?  What they don’t realize is that the IRS looks at that as an attempt to cover up fraudulent activity.  Generally, put the higher wage-earner’s name on top of the form and leave it there, even if your incomes change later.

Hopefully, you’re getting a refund.  Aside from those wedding gift checks, this will be the first “joint” money you receive.  That’s kind of cool.  Do you have a joint bank account yet?  The money will be in both of your names, so both of you should be named on the checking account for the money to be direct deposited.  One thing you should know, although the IRS will direct deposit your tax refund into a single account of a married couple, some states and financial institutions won’t allow it.  If your refund seems to have gotten held up, that could be the reason.

One last piece of advice:  If you are getting a refund this year, it’s a great way to start putting away some money into savings.  I know you’ve got bills to pay and things you want to buy, but saving now while you’re just starting out is the best thing you can possibly do for yourself.  Allocate some money for spending, but get that savings cushion started and keep adding to it.  You’ll be glad you did.

I just saw a news item on television:  Couples with $10,000 of debt and zero savings are twice as likely to get a divorce as couples with $10,000 in savings and zero debt.  The best thing you can do for your marriage is to have a little padding in that savings account.  (End of mom-style lecture.)

Posted on by Jan Roberg

Back to School Time

Whho’s Back to School Time

 

In my neighborhood it’s back to school week!  Here’s some tax tips related to sending the kids back to school.

 

It seems like if they start school on Monday, then the gift wrap/candy sale starts on Tuesday.  If you have a choice, you’re better off writing a check directly to the PTO for whatever donation you’d like to make to the school rather than buying whatever the kids are selling.  For one thing, the school will get all of your donation instead of the money going to some fundraiser sales company.  For another, your check to the PTO will be 100% tax deductible.  (I would argue that 50% of whatever you pay for the gift wrap should be counted as tax deductible as well, but the fund raising companies will argue that their gift wrap really is worth $7 per roll so it’s an iffy deduction.)

 

If you’re a school volunteer, the money you spend for the classroom counts as a charitable contribution.  For example, let’s say you’re the “Halloween Party Mom.”  You spend $30 on candy, $20 on art supplies, and $15 on face paint.  Save those receipts because that’s a $65 contribution to the school.  The same goes for scouts and church groups.  Hold on to those receipts for  those projects as well.

 

Now if the kids pay an activity fee and you’re using the kids’ activity money to buy supplies, then you can’t deduct those receipts.  But if you’re spending your own money on projects, then you definitely can use that as a deduction.   Scout leaders–your uniform is deductible, your kids uniform isn’t.

 

Remember that the mileage you put on your car for volunteering is also deductible with your contributions.  Charity miles are counted as 14 cents per mile.  It doesn’t seem like much, but for some people it really adds up.

 

Welcome back and have a great year!

 

Posted on by Jan Roberg

Checkpoint, How’s Your Withholding?

It's a good idea to just make sure that you are withholding enough tax from your paycheck.

It’s a good idea to just make sure that you are withholding enough tax from your paycheck.

 

I recently read an online forum where a fellow wanted to sue his employer for not properly withholding the man’s income taxes  from his wages.  While I felt sorry for the man and his looming tax debt, given some of the information he posted, I wasn’t convinced that the employer was at fault.  But the tax code and the forms are all pretty confusing, so how do you know that you are withholding correctly?  Fortunately, there is help.

 

First and foremost, if nothing has changed about your job or life situation and you’re happy with your refund/balance due situation, this isn’t for you.  If everything is fine, why change?  But–if you owed too much last April, or you had a job or lifestyle change, then you really should do a mid-year evaluation to make sure that your withholding is on track.  It’s a whole lot easier to change your withholding now than it is to make adjustments in December or after the year is already over.

 

What you need to do is have a copy of your latest pay stub and your last tax return handy.  You’ll need both to answer the questions in the calculator.  Then you’re going to click on the link to the IRS withholding calculator.

 

Now I’m going to be honest, the first time I looked at this I went, “Oh gee, who’d want to bother with this?”  But seriously, it’s the best program for figuring out where you stand with your taxes.  For most situations, I like it better than some of the fancy professional tax projection programs I’ve used.  Most importantly, you don’t need any special training to use it.  Just answer all the questions.  Sometimes you may have to guess, but do your best.  You really do need to have your latest pay stub and last tax return to do this though.  If you’re just estimating, it’s not going to be helpful.

 

The program will tell you, based on what’s actually been taken out of your check, how much your refund or balance due will be.  And, if you are expected to owe, it tells you how to change your withholding so as not have a balance due.

 

So let’s say you ran the program and it does recommend that you change your withholding.  What next?  That’s easy, take the information to your employer (or the payroll department) and fill out a new W4 form.  Unlike some other paperwork that can only be completed annually, you are allowed to change your W4 any time during the year.

 

So about that guy who wants to sue his employer?  I’ll leave that up to the courts.   As for me, I’d rather catch a problem before it gets out of hand, and the IRS withholding calculator lets me do that.