I claimed 2 on my w4, but should've claimed 1. How much will my check change? It was $826 per week, $30/hr?

Question

I got a new job on feb 4th, and claimed 2 instead of 1 on my w-4. I changed it today, to 1, and asked them to hold an additional $10 per week. how much will my check change? i make $62,000/yr gross, and i net $826/week. What should I expect my check to be next week, and how badly did I mess up? is $10/wk enough to fix it? will i have to pay penalties or something since I claimed more than I was allowed?

Answer 1

It sounds like you should be okay.  Underwithholding penalty only applies if you owe more than $1000 at filing time (with a few exceptions).  If you are single with one job and not a dependent, you can adjust your W-4 back to 2 allowances next year (unless you have other significant income).

Each W-4 allowance covers $3500 income.  In 25% marginal tax bracket that would be $16.83 withholding difference per week.

3500 * 0.25 / 52

Answer 2

You can try to estimate the changes with www.paycheckcity.com and the withholding calculator at the IRS.gov website.

Answer 3

It'll probably decrease by around $18 a week for the allowance change, plus the $10 extra taken out, so $28 a week.  You'll probably be ok when you file, with the extra $10 a week taken out, or if you owe anything it shouldn't be much, and shouldn't be enough to trigger penalties.

At the end of the year, remember to file a new W-4 and drop the extra $10 withholding.

Answer 4

To see your check before and after the change, go to the calculator at

http://www.paycheckcity.com/

and plug in both sets of number and compare them.

You don't have to worry about penalties unless you underwithheld by a whole bunch.  If you are worried about that being a possibility, you could claim 0 plus the extra $10.  Try that on the calculator too.

Answer 5

There are too many variables in your question to give you a definitive answer .  However my guess is that you will not have a problem given the fact that you added the $10 to you withholding.  Depending on the state you live in you may want to make sure that you have enough for the state withholding.