Think I over-reacted with the W-4...

[denecarter]

I got married 2 1/2 weeks ago after being a widow for 18 years. I have no idea how my taxes are going to be affected by the change. My last two refunds have been tiny $38 and $120 and I really don't want to end up paying, so I changed my W-4 from single/4 to married but at single rate/0. Oh, dear! It looks like it is going to make a $438 difference in my monthly take-home pay... OUCH!

 

[scanmom]

but it is better than having a huge bill for the tax man at the end of the year. And, I presume your new DH has an income, so at least it is not just you paying the bills! AND---- Congrats on your new marriage! I wish you both many years of happiness!!

 

[CowboyCO]

I got married 2 1/2 weeks ago after being a widow for 18 years. I have no idea how my taxes are going to be affected by the change. My last two refunds have been tiny $38 and $120 and I really don't want to end up paying, so I changed my W-4 from single/4 to married but at single rate/0. Oh, dear! It looks like it is going to make a $438 difference in my monthly take-home pay... OUCH!

You can switch your withholding at any time. Just go online to the IRS site and use the W-4 worksheet and then subtract one dependent from what the worksheet says and that should keep you on the positive side come tax day.

 

[shortbun]

You can switch your withholding at any time. Just go online to the IRS site and use the W-4 worksheet and then subtract one dependent from what the worksheet says and that should keep you on the positive side come tax day.

Yes-this, and congratulations!!!

 

[SnowWtch]

It makes a difference come tax time. I'm the only one working and have it set like that. We got a nice bit back this time b/c of it and just in time for the car insurance. It worked out well.

 

[Swimalie]

Congratulations. As others have said, you can go change it to a higher number so you get more take home and aren't giving the government an interest-free loan over the year. Then you may owe a bit at the end of the year but if you figure it out right, it shouldn't be much.

 

[Golf4food]

Interest free loan to uncle sam = bad.

As long as we owe less than $100 or get back less than $100 I have done my job well.

 

[QVCshopper]

Another way to look at this is to up your 401K and lower your W4 withholdings. That way, you still owe less income tax (401K w/h don't count toward your taxable income) and you get to keep more of your $. Both 401K w/h and W4 can be changed as you see fit throughout the year. Try to calculate how much you and DH will make and see what tax bracket you fall in. That will give you a good basis to work from.

 

[MaryKLady]

My accountant told us years ago to file single 0. You will always get a nice chunk back. She said in her experience, most people would have spent that money instead of saving it. This year we got a bunch back and put central air in our house and still have enough left over for other large home repairs and some for savings. It works well for us and we've never missed the money every month.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Interest free loan to uncle sam = bad.

As long as we owe less than $100 or get back less than $100 I have done my job well.

I was brought up with a Dad that felt that way I do the same yep $$ in my pocket NOW

To OP congrats on the new marriage

 

[r&kmommy]

Dh and I never changed our withholdings when we got married, nor when we had kids! I don't work anymore, but he is still single/0 and gets max taxes taken out of his paycheck. I'd rather get a refund than owe. So, yeah it hurts but it's worth it at the end of the year. Unless, of course, you are wicked hurting for that $438, then you need to change it.

 

[Purseval]

My accountant told us years ago to file single 0. You will always get a nice chunk back. She said in her experience, most people would have spent that money instead of saving it.

In other words she's saying that most of her clients are too irresponsible to save their money and need Uncle Sam to hold their money at 0% interest so they have a little saved each year, which they will promptly blow on something. If you don't fit that description I'd be looking for another accountant who will advise you on how to set up your deductions so you get full use of your money year round.

 

[deerhart]

The PROBLEM with that is for many of us, we do not know the total amount of credits/deductions we are going to have at the end of the year, nor our total income.

For example, I will not know how much I spend on child care until after the summer is over. I won't know the total interest paid on student loans until the end of the year. I won't know total tuition paid etc..

Heck I won't even KNOW our total income until I get those w-2's (since BOTH Dh and my incomes vary greatly on bonus income each year).

I've never had each year be anywhere the same as the previous, thus planning what we are going to get back doesn't work. Last year my total tax due was almost $3,000 less then this years, but this year I got twice a large of a refund (due to credits and such).

My DH has almost very little taxes taken out, but he also has almost all the deductions to income (insurance, flex accounts, 401k). I just have my 401k deducted. I have my set at either 0 or 1, but I also make way more money then my dh does (which means MY income is the bulk of what we pay taxes on). This way, if we do go short (and we have in the past) its not going to be a large blow.

BTW we usually end up breaking even or owing on state (anywhere from $100-$500 owed). The only year we have ever owed for federal was the first year I was back working after grad school (because my income shot up suddenly and I didn't have full interest on loans and such)

The problem with not knowing our total income is that we can easily fall right over a line pushing us into a new bracket suddenly at the end of the year and thus our taxes will be higher (and even get pushed into AMT at some point but that is a whole other fear)

Don't look at your witholdings in a vacuum, you need to look at them via how much you make and how much DH makes. It doesn't make much sense to have the person making the most money also have all the deductions and the most taxes taken out of the lower paycheck (unless they are close in pay). If we did that, we would end up owing thousands of dollars each year (because we wouldn't have the all the tax money I paid in to cover our taxes due)

 

[denecarter]

Thank you for all of the replies and wedding wishes...

I wish I could shovel the money in a 401k, but as a teacher in Texas, I don't have one available.

I think I'm going to play with TurboTax to see what would have happened if we had married last year and adjust for summer school pay that I'm getting this year, etc. That should give me an idea of what that Goldilocks spot is so I get the right amount taken out.