I have a tax question for mass employeed people or accountants?

Question

i am going to start working in mass in september and i'm working on a budget for my family and i was curious as to about what percentage of my check should i expect to donate to the government.. i am not married yet but my finance will not be working. we have a one year old and we will be foster parents to my finance's sister so i'm assuming that i could claim head of household claiming 3 or 4. any accountants out there, help please..

Answer 1

If the child is your biological child, then yes you can claim head of household and claim that child as a dependent.  If you and your fiancee live together ALL year and she doesn't work, you can most likely claim her as a dependent.  

You say you'll be foster parents to her sister - do you mean officially through the legal system, or just that she'll live with you and you'll be supporting her?  You will most likely NOT be able to claim her as a dependent.

So you'll most likely have three exemptions on your tax return - for you, your child and probably for your fiance, so that's three allowances you can claim, plus one for head of household.  You could also claim another one or two since you'll be getting the child tax credit for your child, assuming you aren't making so much money that it's phased out.

You'd be pretty safe claiming four or even five allowances on your W-4.  I wouldn't go higher than that and take a chance on owing money.

To get a good idea of what your paycheck will be, enter your info at paycheckcity.com

Answer 2

YES YOU MAY FILE AS HEAD OF HOUSE HOLD BECAUSE ACCORDING TO IRS REGULATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS, THE IRS STATES AS FOLLOWS;

"Head of Household Generally, you may claim head of household filing status on your tax return only if you are unmarried and pay more than 50% of the costs of keeping up a home for yourself and your dependent(s) or other qualifying individuals. You must be able to claim an exemption for the child. However, you meet this test if you cannot claim the exemption only because the noncustodial parent can claim the child using the rules described later in Children of divorced or separated parents under Qualifying Child or in Support Test for Children of Divorced or Separated Parents under Qualifying Relative. The general rules for claiming an exemption for a dependent are explained later under Exemptions for Dependents."

The child or dependant DOES NOT have to be your blood relative.

See IRS Publication 501 for more detailed information.

I am including the link here for IRS Pub 501

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar0...

Good Luck in Mass !