Tax Tips How to Adjust Your Withholding Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Written by Philip Taylor Published Apr 7, 2011 - [Updated Jul 10, 2019] 3 min read Did you get too big of a tax refund this year (yes, it’s possible to get too much back)? Or, did you end up owing too much money when you filed? That’s never fun. If you’re employed, there is something quick and easy you can do to correct these situations. You can actually request that your employer make changes to your federal tax withholding (i.e. how much of your earnings they keep to pay your taxes). In this post we’ll look at how to adjust those federal tax withholdings before you forget. This way, you wont’ end up owing too much (or getting too much back) next year. How Federal Tax Withholding Works Here in the U.S., the government has decided that it is best if employers be given the duty of collecting federal income taxes on behalf of their employees. They execute this by taking money from the employees’ earnings prior to issuing a check or direct deposit. That’s the “how” of tax withholding. But the “how much” is a bit more complicated. The IRS created the Form W-4 for employees to complete to help the employer know how much tax to withhold. The form includes a series of “allowances” that can be made to affect the level of withholding. In short, the more allowance you make, the less federal tax your employer will withhold from your paycheck. Likewise, the fewer the allowances you make, the more taxes will be withheld. When to Adjust Your Federal Tax Withholding Your employer will require you to fill out a W-4 when you are hired. But they won’t typically require you to update the form after that time. It’s up to you. It is a good idea to revisit your Form W-4 and change your withholding when one of the following takes place: You were refunded too much on your tax return. You owed too much on your tax return. You get married or divorced. Your spouse’s employment status changes. You have a change in the number of dependents. You purchase a home. As you can see, there are many opportunities for you to revisit your withholding. How to Adjust Your Federal Tax Withholding To adjust your withholding, you will need to complete a Form W-4 and give it to your employer. Be sure to ask your employer the number of allowances you are currently making. Then, compare that number to the number of allowances you get when you complete the new Form W-4. It’s also probably a good idea to visit the IRS withholding calculator to determine exactly how many allowances you should make. Once you know how many allowances you are currently making and how many allowances you should be making, it’s easy to make the requested changes and move on. Remember, if you want more money withheld for taxes (increasing your refund, all things being equal), you need to decrease the number of allowances you are making. If you want less withheld for taxes (decreasing your refund, all things being equal), simply increase the amount of allowances. TurboTax makes it easy to adjust your W-4 within tax software and gives you top reasons to adjust your W-4 withholding. Previous Post Last-Minute Tax Tips Next Post Avoid the Post Office Lines This Year: e-File! Written by Philip Taylor More from Philip Taylor 6 responses to “How to Adjust Your Withholding” Im a single parent of 2 but file head of household. There is no federal taken out of my paycheck. What to do? Reply HI, i”m kind of confused. i withhold about 20 bucks a week per paycheck, but i’m not sure if i’ll get that money back or what. i dont make much money, so i figure if i set up an allowance i could save money blindly, figuritivly speaking. will i see this money in the future or am i losing money? Reply Hi SAS and Roger, Thanks for catching the typo. I’ve fixed it in the last paragraph in the post. Thanks, Ashley Reply Do you have the last paragraph backwards? The fewer allowances, the more that will be taken out of your paycheck. Reply I retired on medical disability annunity at age 52(2003) from the Federal Goverment after 30 yrs. of employment. I am now 62 y.o. and still have to file and pay taxes each year since my medical retirement. I have been audited by IRS for the years 2005,2006,2007 and IRS is still stating that I owe back tax money to them for these years,reported this information to the State Revenue and now because of IRS’s report sent to them. Now the State of Georgia is also saying that I owe back taxes for these years, also demanding payment,like IRS, turned over to a collection agency for collection of the alledged debt to them, as well as, filed a legal lien on my resident. These debts are also being reported and are appearing on my credit profile. Since 2005, I have been trying to get corrected but as of this date, no correctios have been made nor has these tax problems been corrected by either IRS or the State. Can someone provide any type of recommendation(s) in my efforts to get these tax problems resolved? Reply Isn’t this the other way around?——-Remember, if you want more money withheld for taxes (increasing your refund, all things being equal), you need to increase the number of allowances you are making. If you want less withheld for taxes (decreasing your refund, all things being equal), simply decrease the amount of allowances. TurboTax makes it easy to adjust your W-4 within tax software and gives you top reasons to adjust your W-4 withholding. Reply Leave a ReplyCancel reply Browse Related Articles Crypto Understanding Crypto and Capital Gains Work 7 Things You Need to Know About the New Business Report… Work Using Form 8829 to Write-Off Business Use of Your Home Tax Tips Roth 403(b) vs. Roth IRA: Which Should You Invest In? Life Interest Rates, Inflation, and Your Taxes Investments Essential Tax Tips for Maximizing Investment Gains Uncategorized TurboTax is Partnering with Saweetie to Elevate Hoop Dr… Business Small Business Owners: Optimize Your Taxes with a Mid-Y… Small Business The Benefits of Employing Your Children and the Tax Bre… Income and Investments Are Olympics Winnings Taxed?
Im a single parent of 2 but file head of household. There is no federal taken out of my paycheck. What to do? Reply
HI, i”m kind of confused. i withhold about 20 bucks a week per paycheck, but i’m not sure if i’ll get that money back or what. i dont make much money, so i figure if i set up an allowance i could save money blindly, figuritivly speaking. will i see this money in the future or am i losing money? Reply
Hi SAS and Roger, Thanks for catching the typo. I’ve fixed it in the last paragraph in the post. Thanks, Ashley Reply
Do you have the last paragraph backwards? The fewer allowances, the more that will be taken out of your paycheck. Reply
I retired on medical disability annunity at age 52(2003) from the Federal Goverment after 30 yrs. of employment. I am now 62 y.o. and still have to file and pay taxes each year since my medical retirement. I have been audited by IRS for the years 2005,2006,2007 and IRS is still stating that I owe back tax money to them for these years,reported this information to the State Revenue and now because of IRS’s report sent to them. Now the State of Georgia is also saying that I owe back taxes for these years, also demanding payment,like IRS, turned over to a collection agency for collection of the alledged debt to them, as well as, filed a legal lien on my resident. These debts are also being reported and are appearing on my credit profile. Since 2005, I have been trying to get corrected but as of this date, no correctios have been made nor has these tax problems been corrected by either IRS or the State. Can someone provide any type of recommendation(s) in my efforts to get these tax problems resolved? Reply
Isn’t this the other way around?——-Remember, if you want more money withheld for taxes (increasing your refund, all things being equal), you need to increase the number of allowances you are making. If you want less withheld for taxes (decreasing your refund, all things being equal), simply decrease the amount of allowances. TurboTax makes it easy to adjust your W-4 within tax software and gives you top reasons to adjust your W-4 withholding. Reply