0, 1, or 2 W-4 Exemptions? CA: Single, HoH. $54,000/yr.?

Question

Hey, I have a question. How much should my employer REALLY be taking?

My employer is a Korean corporation who never had an American worker before. Right now i make $4,500/month (54,000/yr), and i work in California. They have not asked me to fill out a W-2, and have only asked me what my status is.

I received a paper that said with wages $4,500, they would deduct $704.08 for Federal W/h, $279.00 for SocSecurity, $65.25 for Medicare, $200.56 for CA State W/h, and $36.00 for "Other" State w/h.

That takes a $1,284.89 chunk out of my paycheck.

Now, i live alone, am single, and don't understand exactly the benefit of filing as "head of household" or whatever. I dont know what my excemptions should be (0, 1 or 2?), but i do know it will make a big difference to my paycheck. This is the first time I'm making decent enough money to care about this.

Can you please help me know whether they are keeping the right amount, or if something is wrong?

Answer 1

The withholdings are exactly on the mark for claiming 1 withholding allowance.  Claiming 1 is probably correct unless you have other outside income (where you'd want to claim 0 and probably have them withhold extra to cover the taxes due on the outside income) or are itemizing deductions such as for a home mortgage (where you'd want to claim more due to your reduced tax burden.)

Head of Household is for single people supporting a child or other closely related person who lives in their home or are supporting a parent who doesn't need to live in the home.  Since you're single and live alone, you cannot file HoH unless you're supporting a parent whom you can claim as a dependent.

There's no need to hire an accountant just to verify your withholdings, and contrary to what another poster states, there are a number of us who can verify that easily enough.  So can you if you wish, just go here:  http://www.paycheckcity.com

Answer 2

If i were you, i would contact/hire an accountant. From what you say, it seems like they are taking too much but as i do not have a degree in accounting i can not be sure, and neither can anyone else on here. Even someone claiming that they have the proper credentials may be lying, so to be safe i would hire a professional instead of asking a random stranger. Good Luck!

Answer 3

Seems like you need to find out who is head of household. Read: http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/05/head...

Answer 4

visit IRS website www.irs.gov and use their withholding calculator.