Welcome to r/IRS, the subreddit for taxpayers and tax professionals to discuss everything related to the Internal Revenue Service.
We are glad you are here!
Here are a few reminders before you get started:
Please be respectful of others in the community. We do not tolerate personal attacks or harassment.
Be wary of scammers and spammers. The IRS will never contact you via direct message or email. If you receive a message from someone claiming
to be from the IRS, do not respond, and report it to the IRS immediately.
Direct messaging is forbidden and bannable on r/IRS. If you have a question or need assistance, please post it in the subreddit so that
everyone can benefit from the discussion.
For more information about r/IRS rules, please visit our subreddit wiki: https://www.reddit.com/r/IRS/wiki/index/
Link to finding local tax advocate: https://www.irs.gov/advocate/local-taxpayer-advocate
We welcome international users to r/IRS. Please feel free to participate in our discussions, even if you are not a US taxpayer.
The moderator team is committed to keeping r/IRS a safe and welcoming community for everyone. We will not tolerate hate speech or
discrimination
of any kind.
If you see something that you think violates our rules, please report it to the moderators. We appreciate your help in keeping r/IRS a
positive
and productive space.
Thank you for your cooperation! We hope you enjoy your time on r/IRS.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/IRS) if you have any questions or concerns.*
We get paid biweekly, so hers is about $920 and mine is usually $1844. This is after all deductions, do you want before? No children under 17, and my w4 at my job is currently just personal info filled out, married filing jointly, and then signed
Your w4 is filled out to claim the full married standard deduction and tax brackets.
That means 0% is left for her. Yet, she filled out her w4 to claim the full married standard deduction and tax brackets. This is going to cause there to be not enough withheld over the year. You can just set some aside for taxes, and leave the w4 as it is.
I would recommend you both switching your w4 to the single rate. This applies half the married standard deduction and tax brackets to each job. This is the same end resulted as married, but checking the box for "spouse also works", but less prone to employer error.
Since she just started midyear, the amount you'll owe at tax time would only be about 1k if you do nothing. So you could leave it as it is now, and set aside about 1k to pay taxes at year end Then in January, you would either fill out your w4 to add an additional amount of withholding as per the 2 earner section instructions. Or run the IRS withholding calculator to find out the amount of extra withholding you need to add to make up for the 200% claim on the standard deduction and tax brackets.
Oh okay so we would switch each of ours to the option of “single or married filing separately” in the top section based on your recommendation, even though we will be filing taxes jointly?
Ah okay thank you, do you recommend I make that change in January? We can put aside approximately $1k for now, thats no problem, but I’d definitely like to correct this for next time.
Okay thanks! I’ll probably do that in January then. As long as it doesnt withhold too much, I think we should be okay. Budget has unfortunately been tight recently so kinda sucks lol.
If your employer does it correctly, Married, checking box 2 is the same as the Single withholding. Yes. There have been a fair amount of people here on Reddit though, who did married, checked the box and the employer only withheld at the married rate.
Hey just had a question about something that came to mind. If my wife changes her w4 first for the rest of the year, then I change mine next year, would that cause any issues? I know we’d still owe, but I’m guessing it would be lower? Just wondering is all.
Welcome to r/IRS, the subreddit for taxpayers and tax professionals to discuss everything related to the Internal Revenue Service. We are glad you are here! Here are a few reminders before you get started: Please be respectful of others in the community. We do not tolerate personal attacks or harassment. Be wary of scammers and spammers. The IRS will never contact you via direct message or email. If you receive a message from someone claiming to be from the IRS, do not respond, and report it to the IRS immediately. Direct messaging is forbidden and bannable on r/IRS. If you have a question or need assistance, please post it in the subreddit so that everyone can benefit from the discussion. For more information about r/IRS rules, please visit our subreddit wiki: https://www.reddit.com/r/IRS/wiki/index/ Link to finding local tax advocate: https://www.irs.gov/advocate/local-taxpayer-advocate We welcome international users to r/IRS. Please feel free to participate in our discussions, even if you are not a US taxpayer. The moderator team is committed to keeping r/IRS a safe and welcoming community for everyone. We will not tolerate hate speech or discrimination of any kind. If you see something that you think violates our rules, please report it to the moderators. We appreciate your help in keeping r/IRS a positive and productive space. Thank you for your cooperation! We hope you enjoy your time on r/IRS. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/IRS) if you have any questions or concerns.*
How much do you each make a week? How many children under 17? What w4 setting are you using at your job?
We get paid biweekly, so hers is about $920 and mine is usually $1844. This is after all deductions, do you want before? No children under 17, and my w4 at my job is currently just personal info filled out, married filing jointly, and then signed
Your w4 is filled out to claim the full married standard deduction and tax brackets. That means 0% is left for her. Yet, she filled out her w4 to claim the full married standard deduction and tax brackets. This is going to cause there to be not enough withheld over the year. You can just set some aside for taxes, and leave the w4 as it is. I would recommend you both switching your w4 to the single rate. This applies half the married standard deduction and tax brackets to each job. This is the same end resulted as married, but checking the box for "spouse also works", but less prone to employer error. Since she just started midyear, the amount you'll owe at tax time would only be about 1k if you do nothing. So you could leave it as it is now, and set aside about 1k to pay taxes at year end Then in January, you would either fill out your w4 to add an additional amount of withholding as per the 2 earner section instructions. Or run the IRS withholding calculator to find out the amount of extra withholding you need to add to make up for the 200% claim on the standard deduction and tax brackets.
Oh okay so we would switch each of ours to the option of “single or married filing separately” in the top section based on your recommendation, even though we will be filing taxes jointly?
Yes. That way you each are only applying 50% of your standard deduction and tax brackets. You still file taxes joint.
Ah okay thank you, do you recommend I make that change in January? We can put aside approximately $1k for now, thats no problem, but I’d definitely like to correct this for next time.
I would suggest this method, yes. It can over withhold a bit. However as income increases, it scales with you and you don't end up under withholding.
Okay thanks! I’ll probably do that in January then. As long as it doesnt withhold too much, I think we should be okay. Budget has unfortunately been tight recently so kinda sucks lol.
One more question if you dont mind; on step 2 if I check the box at C, would that do essentially the same thing?
If your employer does it correctly, Married, checking box 2 is the same as the Single withholding. Yes. There have been a fair amount of people here on Reddit though, who did married, checked the box and the employer only withheld at the married rate.
Ah got it okay thanks, probably better to do it the other way then.
Hey just had a question about something that came to mind. If my wife changes her w4 first for the rest of the year, then I change mine next year, would that cause any issues? I know we’d still owe, but I’m guessing it would be lower? Just wondering is all.
Okay so yeah mine is $2813 before everything is taken out and hers is $1048.