PhilH930

Well I finally landed a job and am a very happy expat! Some of you may know, but briefly I am a UK citizen who married a US citizen and we now both reside in Atlanta, GA.

I just secured a new job here in Atlanta, and am now completing the tax withholding form W-4, and also state equivilent. While a straight forward form, I wanted to ensure I have the form completed in my best interests; meaning the government taking as little out of each paycheck as possible, but come the end of the tax year I owe nothing or will receive a small refund. Unlike my wife, who likes to loan the government interest free money and then receive a big reimbursement once a year.

Her form is completed with a total number of deductions of 1. This comes from line A. The only other entry is line C, where she put 0, giving a total on Line H of 1. She did not complete any of page 2.

I was wondering if I should mirror her setup, or add another deduction on line C, giving me a total of 2 on line H, and what the implications of this would be.

Any knowledge or experience with this form would be greatly appreciated.

AdobePinon

Well.... if you're filing jointly and you're feeling lucky, try the worksheets on the back of the form.

But, in my experience, no amount of twiddling these numbers will get the right amount of tax withheld for a two-wage situation. Then again, I did have four W2s to deal with last year, so who knows....

miss scouse atl

I am so glad you have asked this question, because I too started my first job today in Atlanta GA and I am having exactly same problem!.

I am quite confused and my husband is as useless as me LOL

Any help anyone?

PhilH930

Yes, help appreciated. Basically, someone who is married and files joint and feels they have the W-4 down to a fine art, please share!

Bob

depends if you've got kids, mortgage, student loans etc...

ain't there an HR person that could help?

oh and nice one on getting the job

AdobePinon

You'd just get the same old line about 'can't give tax advice'.

Duncan Roberts

Unless you can guarantee that your income and deductions will not change at all over the year, you are pretty much fighting a loosing battle to figure it out. The best person to help you would be a tax preparer who could run numbers based on your current salaries and deductions then give you some options. I would think if you claimed 2 and there are just 2 of you, depending on how much you earn and the deductions you have, you would have too little taken out of yours but if your wife has too much taken out you might break even or come out slightly ahead in the long run. You could use turbo tax and compile a tax return for the 2 of you to see what gives once you have signed the forms and know what amounts of tax are coming out of your pay check.

Rete

Claim the correct amount of dependents, i.e. you and your wife, and I guarantee you will not be overpaying the government but underpaying them and will have to owe at the end of the year.

Why are so many people unwilling to put in a few bucks too much on taxes? Are you really going to save that $20 or $40 a week and how much interest will you earn on it anyway. Hell with today's interest rates rather than a check from the feds for $1,500 in time for a nice winter vacation then have to pull it out of the bank.

PhilH930

Thats not logical thinking in my opinion, for the following reasons.

1) Why give the government additional money, which in sense is like an interest free loan to them.
2) If you do owe additional taxes, they charge you interest on it, so there is no parity with line 1.
3) Lets say you take your approach and get a $2000 refund. Well, if you were able to save that money at current savings rates thats an additional $100 per year. I'd rather that in my pocket than theirs. Over many years that interest alone adds up to thousands.
4) The time value of money. The refund in todays hand does not equal the same amount of money that would have been saved by having the correct amount with held.
5) The power of having more income in your pocket.
6) Not being so dependent on government. Next you'll tell me you want Clinton in power and socialized medicine!!
7) The false image of getting that big refund at the end of the year. From my points 1-6, you can see its not really a refund, but the return of an interest free loan!

Just my opinion. I also know many others that agree, and you could visit fairtax.org for even more opinions.

But, as it happens I claimed just 1 deduction, my wife claimed 1 on hers, given a total of 2 which should be an overpayment at the end of the year (kind of silly seeing as I don't agree with it). I guess I'll just test the waters for my first year of employment.

Duncan Roberts

The number of dependents you claim really doesn't play into how much tax you will have to pay, kind of. The amount of tax owed will depend on your income and what deductions you have. If you have no deductions and a high income then you may find that you will owe even if you claim 0 dependents. If you have a low income and a lot of deductions you may find that you can break even or get money back claiming 10 dependents. You can change your dependents whenever you want so if you think you're having too little or too much taken out, then you can. If you want to get a better idea try the calculator on the IRS website, it's one of the options about halfway down the Individuals page.

Rete

Talk about being illogical

They do? Since when? They do not charge you interest UNLESS you do not pay the bill in full by the 15th of April. If you are not smart enough to either get to an account in plenty of time to have them prepare your taxes for you or for you to do it yourself (and if you are a large wage earner and have property you are dumb in my book to DIY), then you deserve to pay the penalty and interest charged.

I had a refund bigger than that this year for the first time in my life. But you tell me because I know I won't if you would be saving that $76.92 twice a month. Yes it is a fairly nice sum of money but $152 at the percent I get on my very very meager savings account would probably be $.25 a month and I believe this will hold to the same pattern for all of us low to middle income wage earners who make under $100,000 annually with no deductions to claim on the 1040.

Wow are you overreaching there. We are not talking tens of thousands of dollars here but a pittance actually. For the very wealthy and for the very poor what you say makes sense. But for the lower middle class of this country, your thoughts don't make sense for that small amount of money for someone who has meager savings and lives virtually from paycheck to paycheck, a refund check of $150 to $1,000 is a windfall and will pay for a luxury (in their eyes) that they would never be able to afford otherwise because they would never be able to save for it.


What in heaven's name are you going on about? Who is depend on the government? I don't get welfare, medicaid, medicare, earned income credit, food stamps, subsidized housing. This is not the UK with council housing, national healthcare, monthly child allotments for being fertile and having kids, etc.

What does my political views have to do with a tax refund. And yes, I would love a national healthcare system, be it socialized or not.

Yes, many do agree with you and for the most part the majority are Brits not Americans. For the most part, Americans on this group are not wealthy or have jobs that pay in the 6 figures and all the perks that go with H-1B apparently.

I claim 0 as does my husband and we are lucky if we see back $200 at the end of the year from federal and we always owe the state.

PhilH930

Rete, I think you're bordering on being a communist!

austin_d_powers

Assuming what you say is correct and the wife gets a big refund when she has a deduction of 1, You should put down a deduction of 2 on your form.
Even if you owe tax at the end of the year it will be a small enough amount that interest and penalties will not apply.
And if you receive a refund at the end of the year, then increase your deduction to 3 next year.
Better for you to owe the IRS a small amount than the IRS to owe you a large amount.

Mallory

Lighten up and pay too much. Give the cheque to your wife for a shopping spree. It's considered fun money.

PhilH930

Finally someone thats agrees with me!