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Recently married. W-4 question

Posted on 3/27/15 at 9:50 am
Posted by LSU6262
Member since Jun 2008
7493 posts
Posted on 3/27/15 at 9:50 am
I changed my W4 for federal to Married/head of household and my state to self + spouse. My wife changed hers the same way. We made no other changes to allowances or anything else.

My net pay is increasing by $86 and hers is increasing by $90 per pay period. Are the tax benefits that significant? Or did we screw something up?
Posted by Poodlebrain
Way Right of Rex
Member since Jan 2004
19860 posts
Posted on 3/27/15 at 10:54 am to
The total tax you and your wife will owe using married filing joint status will probably be less than if you had not married and filed separate returns as single, and it is all but certain that your tax will be less than using married filing separate. However, there is no way to tell what benefit, if any, you will garner without more information. It is possible your combined incomes will push you into a higher tax bracket while your withholding remains in a lower bracket. Thus the increase in net pay could result in you owing tax when you file your returns for 2015 simply because you had less withheld.
Posted by UltimaParadox
Huntsville
Member since Nov 2008
40861 posts
Posted on 3/27/15 at 6:54 pm to
Filing married for two people making similar incomes will usually cause you to have insufficient withholdings.

As it pretty much like single with two dependents. The tax code had only one income in mind when filling married
Posted by Poodlebrain
Way Right of Rex
Member since Jan 2004
19860 posts
Posted on 3/27/15 at 7:27 pm to
quote:

Filing married for two people making similar incomes will usually cause you to have insufficient withholdings.
Not true if you actually follow the instructions for Form W-4 and complete the worksheets to determine the appropriate amount to have withheld. The problem is that most people do not follow the instructions for households with two wage earners and complete the required worksheets.
Posted by LSU6262
Member since Jun 2008
7493 posts
Posted on 3/28/15 at 7:45 am to
I make $60k and have my allowances at 2. She makes $30k and has allowances at 0. We have no kids or dependents
Posted by LSU1018
Baton Rouge
Member since Feb 2007
7222 posts
Posted on 3/28/15 at 8:18 am to
What is your goal? Do you want a big refund, would you like to be close to break even, or would you rather owe money at the end of the year? I'm not as good as poodle at this but I would guess with the current information you have given, you would possibly owe a little tax or be about break even at the end of the year.

Personally I think that's a good thing as long as you will not spend the extra money in your bank account if it's there.
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