I think I made a mistake on my tax forms...?

Question

I think I made a mistake on my tax forms.

I just relocated (no longer a dependent on my parents) and got my first job. I filled out a W4 and the VA income tax sheet. I am living with my girlfriend and put myself as "Head of Household" but with 1 dependent (myself). However, I guess I am not the head of household but rather having 1 dependent (her). Does this need to be corrected or is this fine since its the same number on the W4? I think the number on the VA tax form is different though...

This is all new to me - should I just not worry about it or should I go to HR to get this worked out? We get paid monthly so I haven't made any money or paid any taxes for that matter. Or better yet, CAN I fix this situation?

Answer 1

You are not a head of household. Read: http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/05/head...

On W4, you are talking about allowances. You can claim 0, 1 or 2 allowances; that is fine. You can always submit a new W4. Read about W4:  http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/02/fili...

Answer 2

To claim your girlfirend, she has to live with you 100% for the year, she cannot make more than $3,000 of her own money, and you have to provide more than 50% of her support.

The head of household status has a different tax withholding rate, so you should file a new W-4.

Answer 3

go to H&R.  just let them look it over.  it may not be a big deal.

Answer 4

You are correct that you are not allowed to file as head of household.

If your girlfriend lives with you ALL year, all 365 days, and nobody else can claim her, and she doesn't have $3500 or more gross income for the year, you can most likely claim her on your return.  But if you moved in together sometime during the year, or if she has gross income of $3500 or more for the year, you can't.

If you ARE eligible to claim her, adding one allowance for her as a dependent on your W-4, and subtracting one for the head of household claim, will come out the same.  It's the total allowances that matters, not how you got the number on the worksheets, so you don't have anything to change unless you can't claim her, in which case you should decrease the number of allowances by one.

If you filed your RETURN for last year as head of household, then yes go to a preparer and do an amendment.  But if you are just talking about your W-4, you certainly don't need a preparer involved, you just do that with your employer.

Answer 5

just ask your employer for another w4 to fill out or leave it like it is and just file correctly at the end of the year, it should not make a big difference in the amount deducted from your check in federal taxes. why would you go to h and r block to correct a w4, that is none of their concern

Answer 6

I let my step-dad do my taxes one year and he did the exact same thing on my form.  The IRS caught the mistake and let me know (there was no penalty, just a notification).  By the way, a girlfriend is not considered a dependent.  Oh wait, you mean you haven't had to actually file your taxes yet, just filled out all the paperwork as a new hire???    In that case, go to your HR manager and straighten it out.   You might even get lucky and have a knowledgeable HR person who will help you.  Don't stress!   It won't go on your permanent record!   Good luck on new job.

Answer 7

Just submit a new W-4 claiming single and either 0 or 1.  It is not a big deal if it is filled out wrong anyway unless you are off by a mile (take 10 allowances so you intentionally have your taxes underwithheld for example).

Just make sure you do NOT claim yourself as HH on your real tax form.  An HH is somebody who supports and lives with their dependent child more than half the year.  A guy on his own even with a dependent girlfriend it NOT HH.  But it sounds like you figured that out already.