Hey ladies....for those of you who adjust your tax withholding to the point where you are paying in just enough taxes to not have a refund, I need your help. I'm looking to do this, since we are in debt repayment mode, I'd like to have the most money possible NOW (legally of course), but not have to pay in anything extra (owe the IRS) come tax time in 2009.
Now, what do I need to actually claim on the W-4 (i'm a tax idiot)? I am married, with no children. Help! Please! Thanks in advance!

my husband and I just started doing this. We figured that we need it more every month than just one lump sum back. There is a witholding calculator on the irs website. As long as you have all your info handy it is easy to fill in. Hope this helps.

Print a copy of the W-4 off the IRS website. On the top, before the form you fill out is the "W-4 worksheet" There are so many people that have explained this form wrong in the past to me (and I'm a bookkeeper!). To get the max of your paycheck, fill out the worksheet, it has deductions that you can claim that you many not have thought of.

Sine you have no children and only you and your spouse, my guess is your max deductions is 2, though don't quote me. Those with multiple children and single income households could claim up to 12-15 dependants because of the additional child tax credit laws.

Bottom line, it always best to do those annoying worksheets from the IRS, they actually do help you get the most money possible!

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Here's a website that might help.

https://www.paycycle.com/external/bu...38!-1709113593

it at least lets you figure out a close estimate of what the paycheck will be with how many w/holdings.

What we did was have the fewest deductions and get the refund for a few years, but this year in Sept. we changed the deductions to 5 for dh only to get more in his check for bills and xmas time. hth!!

Thanks guys, i appreciate all your help! I plan on getting this done for the first of the year....thanks again, you've been a big help!

It helps if you can figure out how much in taxes you're actually going to pay over the course of a year. Since the government keeps changing the tax code, it is hard to get an exact number, but I get close.

Look at how much you paid in taxes last year. Go to your tax return and usually there is a line somewhere under the one that says "Taxable income" that says "This is your total tax."

Review the deductions and credits you claimed last year to see what might be different. Did your income go up slightly? Did you re-fi your mortgage? Did your property taxes go up? Did you donate more to charity? Did you deposit more into a 401k? Did the tax law change significantly? Take those changes into account and re-figure your answer for the "This is your total tax" line.

Then, divide that number by the number of paychecks you get in a year. That is the amount you should be withholding from every paycheck.

Now comes the tricky part ... you want to claim the number of dependants that gets you closest to that number. It doesn't matter if you claim "Single - 5" when you're really married with no children as long as the dollar amount is correct. The way you find out what to claim is to use the same withholding calculator that employERS use when figuring your paycheck. That information is available on-line at the irs.gov website OR you can go down to your local IRS office and ask for the book of withholding schedules.

Once you have the number calculated and your W-2 submitted, check once or twice a year to make sure you're still on track. Sometimes things change. You could re-fi your mortgage, get a significant change in income or even a bonus. We check in the summer and closer to the end of the year.

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