What should my wife and I claim for our taxes?

Question

I will make 88,000 this year and my wife 66,000. We have one child. We file together. What should we each claim on our taxes to minimize us owing the government?

Should I claim 3 and her 0? Or should I claim 3 and she claims 1?

Please help!

Answer 1

I have no idea what your total deductions will be.  Therefore, read IRS Publication 15 to see how your paycheck is affected by your W-4 filings.  You can read the similar publication for your state as well.

Answer 2

With income that high, I'd claim 2 total between you.  The withholding tables don't work very well for a married couple who both have fairly high incomes.

Answer 3

File a joint return to maximize your deductions, your standard deduction will be higher and you can itemize all legitimate deductions that you both have, you both cannot claim 3 deductions,  once a deduction is claimed it cannot be claimed again, that will surely get you audited and probably wind up with penalties to pay.

Answer 4

I would suggest that you each claim three exemptions.  If you don't have any other income which is not subject to withholding, this should work out relatively well.