The last thing you want to do is frantically run up to your boss asking “How many allowances do I claim on my W-4?”.
Being aware of the number of allowances you are claiming on a Form W-4 [Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate] is important for a variety of reasons. Most importantly, the number of allowances you claim on a W-4 determines the following;
- how much tax will be taken from your income (aka the withholding amount)
- the size of your tax refund
Steps to filling out a W-4
You’ll need to follow four simple steps when filling out your W-4 Form:
- Fill out your personal information (Name, Date of Birth, Address, Marital Status)
- Know the number of personal and dependency exemptions you are claiming on your tax return.
- Based on the number from step 2, use that number to help determine your number of allowances.
- Don’t forget to sign the W-4 and turn it into your employer!
The allowances you claim while filling out a W-4 if you are single will differ from the allowances you claim if you are married or have kids.
Claiming zero allowances
- The maximum amount of tax is withheld. Meaning, when it comes time to file your tax return you will most likely receive a refund.
- You’re being claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return.
Claiming one allowance (ideal if you are single with one job)
- You’re single and have one job. Claiming one allowance will most likely result in a refund when you file your taxes.
Claiming two allowances
- You are single. Claiming two allowances will get you close to your tax liability but may result in tax due when filing your taxes.
- You’re single and work more than one job. Claim one allowance at each job or two allowances at one job and zero at the other.
- You’re married.
Claiming three allowances
- You are married with one child.
Claiming additional allowances
- File as head of household if you are eligible. You are able to claim additional allowances.
- You had at least $2,000 of child or dependent care expenses that you plan on claiming credit
- You’re eligible to claim the Child Tax Credit
Can I fill out a new W-4 form?
Yes, employees can submit a new W-4 form to their employee at any time during their employment. Have you recently started a second job, had a baby, or tied the knot? Life changes such as these should encourage you to update your W-4 withholding.
A great tool to help you while filling out a W-4 is the IRS Withholding Calculator, located on the IRS website.
Claiming zero allowances means less take home pay, but a bigger tax refund during tax season.
The number you report on a W-4 will ultimately determine your take home pay and your tax refund. Don’t write down any number. Take the few extra minutes to really assess your situation and fill in the W-4 accordingly. By doing so you’re less likely find yourself in a difficult financial situation.
Then, when you’re ready to file your taxes, you’ll have a heads up on whether or not you’ll be receiving a tax refund!
Hi,
Iam an F1 – OPT student working. Iam single. Last year I filled the w- 9 form as 1 and head of household as 1. When i do my tax returns it looks like I owe the money. Looks like when am on student visa 18% taxes are taken off but in my case Iam paying 21%..Am pretty new to this and have no idea about what needs to be entered. I just need help here. This whole think is so confusing. Any help in this regards would be highly appreciated.
Hello I am trying to figure out what option i should choose 1 or 2 on my w-4. I claim head of household i make 52K a year and have 2 dependents that i claim on a annual basis. Just to clarify a bit further i still would like a decent return come tax season, for the past 2 years i’ve been claiming 0 and have received about 8k back in taxes. If i can still get back each year around 5k should i only claim 1 or 2?
For years my husband and I file “Married filing Jointly” with 0 allowances and always received a sizable Federal refund.
In June 2016 I changed my allowance from 0 to “2”.
After I switched to “2” allowances I only received approximately $30 extra on my BI-WEEKLY paycheck (based on approx $55k annual income).
(Assuming that when I file 2017 taxes I would owe IRS approx $1,000).
This year when completing 2017 taxes, I’m only getting $900 back on my Federal return (husband reported no income). When I claimed 0 allowances we would normally receive approx $5,000 back in Federal.
I claimed 2 allowances and my Federal return went from normally $5,000 to $900.
This doesn’t seem right as I didn’t get back an extra $4,000 in 2017 on my paycheck by claiming 2 allowances.
I’m confused, is this accurate?
Hello. So recently started my first post-college job in late January and I’m single with no dependents and its the only job that I have right now. However I did have another job just for the first 2 weeks or so of January with my YTD earnings being about $2300. Can I still claim 1 even though I worked the second job for the first two weeks or will I end up owing a good amount? Not sure if this helps but my first two paychecks with my new job have had taxes taken out under 0 allowances in my w-4.
Hi, so I know the basics of withholdings and allowances and all of that, but my wife and I the past two years have ended up in the same strange, frustrating position. We are married filing jointly, no dependents, and I believe we both claim 1 allowance for each of our jobs. Yet, we’ve had to pay the past two years. A lot (last year was $500 and this year was more like $300). A depressing prospect since everywhere I’ve seen, when you’re married you should claim 2. Why is this happening? We have no investments, own no businesses, have no kids, we own our house… it makes no sense to me. Should we claim zero each? Any advice would be fantastic!