How many dependents can I claim?

Question

I am single, head of household, I claim my little cousin (who is 7yrs old), I am a teacher, and I make about $70,000 a year with all the side jobs I do at school. I used to have a house but had to sell it (due to market crash)...I rent, make monthly donations to charities, school and church...how many dependents can I claim to have more take home pay available? I don't care about a refund...I'd rather have it in my pocket every month (I get paid monthly).....Please advise me....thank you!

Answer 1

You are NOT head of household.  A cousin is not a close enough relative to claim that status.  To qualify a child has to be yours or the child of your brother or sister or legally placed in your home.  

While you can claim your cousin as a qualifying relative (assuming he lives with you all year and you can prove you provided more than half of his support), he is not a qualifying child.  No HOH, no child tax credit, no dependent care credit and if his parents or grandparent live with yout you can't claim him at all.

You are single.

Answer 2

You might be able to claim your cousin as a qualifying relative if he lives with you ALL year and you provide over half of his support, and nobody else can claim him as a qualifying child.  But a cousin is NOT a qualifying person for head of household, even if the child is your qualifying relative dependent.  You can't claim a cousin as a qualifying child, so do not get a child tax credit.

Unless your allowable itemized deductions are over $5450, you won't be itemizing.

Claim one allowance.  If those side jobs don't have taxes taken out, and possibly even if they do, then you'll very likely owe if you aren't making quarterly payments.  If the amount from the side jobs is very low, only a few thousand dollars, you might get away with just claiming zero, and still end up with enough withheld to not owe, or at least not owe much, when you file.

Answer 3

Get the W-4 form, and use the calculator there too see how many would be appropriate to claim.  You need this form to file with employer, so this is the best place to start.  You can go to www.irs.gov for the form.

Answer 4

You are speaking of the number of "exemptions" to claim on your W-4.

This is different from the number of dependents you actually claim when you file your taxes each year.

If you don't care about getting a refund, it is smart to up the exemptions for more take home pay. But if you up them too much, you will owe taxes (be sure you realize the impact of this).

You can use this paycheck calculator to play around with different exemption numbers, to see how it would affect your take-home pay each month.

http://www.paycheckcity.com/NetPayCalc/n...

As far as recommending the best number for you....it's too complicated to figure here.  You should go see a tax preparer, who can plug in all your info, and figure the best number for you.

PS - When I was making this amount ($70k/yr), and was single, with no house, I claimed "4"...which worked out perfectly for me....no refund, I owed $74 in taxes that year.  So it was just right.  But that was many years ago...and you really should see a tax advisor to figure the best for your exact situation.

Answer 5

You can claim as many as you want so that you dont have more taxes taken out however you might end up paying at the end of the year. I would much rather have my money now then later, I think I claim 5 but I dont make that much money. I think you should talk to an accountant to be sure.

Answer 6

There is no limit. The dependent must be your qualifying child or qualifying relative that meets the requirements.

Read: http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/03/requ...