How many exemptions can a married couple get, if they dont want to owe anything at the end of the year.?

Question

should we each claim one? maybe two? do one of us get to claim two people? i want them to take as little from each check possible and owe nothing at the end of the year.

Answer 1

It's best to claim 0, that way you get a refund and owe nothing.  Even claiming one, you could end up owing.  That's how it's worked for me for years!  Good luck!

Answer 2

Generally the highest paid person should claim married two and the lower paid person should claim zero, married but withhold at the higher single rate.

However, it will depend on your circumstances - if you have lots of deductions you could get a large refund - If you have kids, that changes the dynamics - it depends on how much money you make and if you are in the 10% or the 25% tax bracket.

The best thing to do is take a blank 2007 tax return and using 2008 numbers, calculate a tax estimate. Estimate your numbers for 2008 and put them into the 2007 tax return and figure out what the tax amount would be.  Then adjust your W-4's accordingly.  If you have paid to the IRS in 2008 the same amount as your 2007 tax liability, and you owe under $1,000 at the end of the year, then you will be OK with the IRS.

If you want to figure out the impact of your W-4 on your paychecks, you can go to www.irs. gov and find Publication 15 Circular E and look at the withholding tables.  This will tell you how your withholdings are calculated.

Answer 3

If you are filing head of house hold you can claim one exemption for each person who lives in your home that you are financially responsible for, however, any other adults in the home would not be able to file any exemptions.  If you are filing individually, you can each claim yourselves and split the children between you, or just have one person claim all of the children.

Answer 4

Do you itemize? You can itemize alot of things but for a list you would have to go to the government website. You also have to have a certain amount spent to itemize. You can report any thing that was stolen or damaged that wasn't returned, replaced, or paid for. When you get rid of things instead of trashing them donate them and ask for a receipt. You can get a receipt for any donations.There are alot of things you can file you just need to do your research.

Why do you want to pay as little as possible? I perfer to pay a little extra so that I have a bigger chunck at once than a few extra dollars every two weeks. IT helps with the big things we need to buy that we normally wouldn't have the money for and most people have something they don't need that can be cut out to make up for the extra taken out of your check.

Answer 5

visit IRS website and  use the withholding calculator to get the amount you can claim.

Answer 6

You could probably claim two total between you and come out close to even.  If you want to be sure not to owe, claim zero, especially if you each make a fairly decent salary.