I am a single mom. My daughter was born in January 08. I make about $28.000 a year.?

Question

Should I claim single or head of household? How many exemptions should I claim?

Thanks.

Answer 1

HOH and 2 exemptions on your tax return.

as for your w4, just follow the instructions.

Answer 2

You should visit IRS website and use their calculator to figure out how many exemptions you should claim.  And also check IRS website to check how you should file.

www.irs.gov

Answer 3

I would say HOH and 2 exemptions.

Answer 4

Do you pay over half the cost of maintaining your home that you and your child occupy?  If so, you should file as Head of Household.  Otherwise, you file as Single.

Either way you file, as long as you claim your child, you will owe zero tax because of the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit (including the stimulus payment of $300 you will receive in 2009).  In your case, you could indicate "exempt" on your W-4.  Keep in mind that if you do this, you will receive only a small tax refund when you file your taxes.

If you can file as HOH it will result in less tax and more credits, so you would do better (get a bit more refund even if no taxes are taken out).

If you want to fill out your W-4 as HOH and two exemptions, you can do that.  You will get a bigger refund, but a smaller paycheck.

Answer 5

Go to www.paycheckcity.com.  There is an easy to use W-4 calculator there you can use as a guide.  With a low salary and 1 child, you should take 1 allowance for you, 1 for being head of household, plus 1-3 allowances for your child (due to $1000 tax credit per child plus EIC). That gives you a range of 3-5 allowances for your W-4 form.  On your 1040 form when you file taxes you should file as Head of Household with 2 exemptions. For your W-4 the allowances are merely a guide for the % of tax you want withheld, it does not have to match the number of people you are claiming.  (For example, I am a stay at home mom with 4 children, we just upped our W-4 to 15 since 10 was withholding too much tax in our situation). Also you can look at www.irs.gov for more information. If you withhold too little, you are giving the government an interest free loan basically, which is what a huge refund is.  Can't you use your money now instead?

Answer 6

The W-4 doesn't have a place for head of household, so claim single there.  On your actual tax return, claim head of household assuming that you meet the requirements.

You can claim at least 4 - one for yourself, one for your daughter, and two for being able to claim the child tax credit for her.  Then two more assuming you'll have only one job, and will be filing as head of household.  Actually you will be eligible for EIC also, so most likely could claim another one or two and still be OK.

Answer 7

For 2007 you are signle, 1 exemption.   For your 2008 return, due next year, you are Head of Household with 2 exemptions if no one else is claiming you.   (if you are dependant on a parent still you would not do this, they would claim you and your child.)