| User | Post |
|
5:59 pm
January 30, 2013
|
Edward Antrobus
| | Fort Collins, CO | |
| Member
| posts 1008 | 
|
|
|
I've got a question for the tax professionals out there. How am I supposed to navigate the W-4 for two income families?
After owing last year, we set our W-4's to zero exemptions. Should be a big refund, right? Nope. My side under-withheld by $1500! What am I doing wrong?
|
I'm looking for editors, beta-readers, and some demographic research for my upcoming novel, Once Upon a Saturn Moon. If you like reading soft sci-fi thrillers, maybe with a touch of romance thrown in, you can find more information at http://seampublishing.com/once…..aturn-moon
If You Can Read, You Can Cook – http://www.ifyoucanread.com | Think you can't cook? If you can read this sentence, then you can.
SEAM Publishing – http://www.seampublishing.com | eBook formatting and publishing service
|
|
|
12:57 am
January 31, 2013
|
The College Investor
| | San Diego, CA | |
| Admin
| posts 1935 |
|
|
|
You can change it to 0 exemptions, but then add a specific amount. For example, you could do 0 exemptions then add in $57 per paycheck (assuming you get paid bi-weekly). This would help balance that out.
|
|
|
|
|
4:56 am
January 31, 2013
|
MoneyBeagle
| | |
| Member
| posts 1466 |
|
|
|
Or in your case you could just have the $57 per paycheck automatically transferred to a savings account of some sort. That way you're at least earning a little interest, plus you have the cash on hand throughout the year which can serve as a pseudo-emergency fund, and if it's not used, you'll be covered come tax time.
|
|
|
|
|
10:51 am
January 31, 2013
|
evolvingPF
| | Durham, NC | |
| Member | posts 50 |
|
|
|
I'm not a tax professional, but I agree with Money Beagle. Just estimate how much tax you have to pay based off your previous year's return and compare that with what is withheld. If it's not enough, open up a savings account and make up the difference on your own throughout the year. This is what we're doing with our extra income, since the withholdings are mysteriously tiny when we know it will be taxed at our marginal rate.
|
|
|
|
|
1:28 pm
January 31, 2013
|
Edward Antrobus
| | Fort Collins, CO | |
| Member
| posts 1008 |
|
|
|
Post edited 1:32 pm – January 31, 2013 by Edward Antrobus
evolvingPF said:
I'm not a tax professional, but I agree with Money Beagle. Just estimate how much tax you have to pay based off your previous year's return and compare that with what is withheld. If it's not enough, open up a savings account and make up the difference on your own throughout the year. This is what we're doing with our extra income, since the withholdings are mysteriously tiny when we know it will be taxed at our marginal rate.
It is crazy. I think in my case whatever algorithm is used to determine witholdings just can't cope with wildly fluctuating income like mine. Last year, I had a $100 check and a $1000 check from the same job!
I understand the logic behind simply saving the amount and trying to earn interest on it, but owing a tax bill just feels too much like debt for my taste and I'm willing to loose out on a couple dollars interest to simply withhold enough in the first place.
|
I'm looking for editors, beta-readers, and some demographic research for my upcoming novel, Once Upon a Saturn Moon. If you like reading soft sci-fi thrillers, maybe with a touch of romance thrown in, you can find more information at http://seampublishing.com/once…..aturn-moon
If You Can Read, You Can Cook – http://www.ifyoucanread.com | Think you can't cook? If you can read this sentence, then you can.
SEAM Publishing – http://www.seampublishing.com | eBook formatting and publishing service
|
|
|
6:26 pm
January 31, 2013
|
Money Reasons
| | |
| Admin
| posts 697 |
|
|
|
I wanted to avoid underpaying the government, so I claimed 0 exemptions and I also put $100 per week extra into withholdings…
If I overestimate how much I save, then I consider the plan a forced saving plan.
But more than likely, I'll just barely have enough and get a small amount if any amount back for 2013 since I'm hoping to do well in the stock market… I may be overly optimistic though about my stock performance though… 
|
|
|
|
|
4:30 pm
February 1, 2013
|
Jackie
| | |
| Member | posts 664 |
|
|
|
Is your income fluctuating wildly due to side jobs or your own business? If so, you may need (or want) to pay quarterly estimated taxes to sort of even things out and ensure that you're paying close to what you actually owe.
If it's just that you aren't having enough withheld, I'd change the form to show "married but withhold at higher single rate", each claim 0, and then have an additional amount withheld from each check. You'll have to run the numbers to figure out what that additional amount is likely to be…
|
|
|
|
|
11:32 am
February 3, 2013
|
Edward Antrobus
| | Fort Collins, CO | |
| Member
| posts 1008 |
|
|
|
Jackie said:
Is your income fluctuating wildly due to side jobs or your own business? If so, you may need (or want) to pay quarterly estimated taxes to sort of even things out and ensure that you're paying close to what you actually owe.
If it's just that you aren't having enough withheld, I'd change the form to show "married but withhold at higher single rate", each claim 0, and then have an additional amount withheld from each check. You'll have to run the numbers to figure out what that additional amount is likely to be…
Actually, my full-time job is the cause of my wildly fluctuating income. My side income is very small so far, but road construction is dependent on the weather. I had several weeks in January/February last year where I only worked 8 hours (and two weeks I didn't work at all), but I was easily hitting 60 hours per week in July and August.
Looking at my pay stubs, I'm already listed as single, so it looks like I just have to instruct them to withhold extra from each check.
|
I'm looking for editors, beta-readers, and some demographic research for my upcoming novel, Once Upon a Saturn Moon. If you like reading soft sci-fi thrillers, maybe with a touch of romance thrown in, you can find more information at http://seampublishing.com/once…..aturn-moon
If You Can Read, You Can Cook – http://www.ifyoucanread.com | Think you can't cook? If you can read this sentence, then you can.
SEAM Publishing – http://www.seampublishing.com | eBook formatting and publishing service
|
|
Login
Search 
Home
Print this Topic 
Topic RSS 
