I asked this over on this business board but let's face it the Outdoor board is the place to be.

Do we have any CPA's on here? Or anyone familiar with filling out multiple W4's when filing jointly with a spouse. The IRS W4 calculator was like reading German at 9pm last night when trying to do all of this.

In reply to dtkprowler

dtkprowler said:

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Unpopular opinion: Just put single and zero dependents on all of your W4s.

ETA: DO NOT put each other as dependents/exemptions on each others W4s and DO NOT put kids on BOTH W4s

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This is the way.

Which means you then file separately, correct?

In reply to rgm97 This is correct. You can file single on a W4 and they will withhold more. But still file MFJ on your tax return. You will then get more returned due to more withheld.

W4 selection has no real tie to your 1040, meaning they do not have to line up or match at all.

In reply to Sooper Jeenyus

Sooper Jeenyus said:

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Giving the government interest-free loans.

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Or not having to pay as much and possibly incur penalties. It is possible to claim zero dependents and single on the W4 withholding calculation and still pay taxes in April!

Just figure out your rough tax bill if your incomes are generally similar year to year and withhold enough to get into the safe harbor.

If any of your jobs are mostly commission (sales) often the w4 is garbage anyway because that only applies to the salary portion of the income and the commissions are withheld at a flat 25%.

Then, finish becoming one and combine finances

In reply to mosdefn14

mosdefn14 said:

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Just figure out your rough tax bill if your incomes are generally similar year to year and withhold enough to get into the safe harbor.

If any of your jobs are mostly commission (sales) often the w4 is garbage anyway because that only applies to the salary portion of the income and the commissions are withheld at a flat 25%.

Then, finish becoming one and combine finances

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I knew the financial set up we have would be an unpopular flavor for most on here.

It all stems from going to the bank when we got engaged and got a house together 8-9 years ago and the banker said there was no reason to start a whole other bank account. I slide her money for bills every month plus any other expenses we're splitting and the rest is for us to use however we want.

Gotta admit whenever I wanna buy a new gun, fishing rod, duck decoys, etc etc….its kinda nice

But I did tell her last night it's time to have a joint account.

if you are 2 jobs, no kids, just follow step 2b and tables on page 4 or the estimator tool. all those tools are trying to determine is your total income across all jobs and divide that by paycheck periods. if you want to complicate you can add dependents or items in excess of standard deduction but those just muddy the waters and unless you have a crap ton of kids or serious amount of mortgage interest its not worth the effort.

your question on the business forum - it doesn't matter where you withhold from, you just don't want to substantially under withhold and pay penalties and interest. but, you can always pay extra withholding on either W-4. You could put zero on her w4 if you want it all to come out of your paycheck. you can also just pay extra estimated taxes to the IRS Directly rather than trying to change your W4 every time you dislike what it withholds.

the worksheet doesn't contemplate 401k and other pre-tax deductions (health insurance, parking, etc) so i would round down to account for those amounts to avoid having too much withholding

In reply to TH36

TH36 said:

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mosdefn14 said:

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Just figure out your rough tax bill if your incomes are generally similar year to year and withhold enough to get into the safe harbor.

If any of your jobs are mostly commission (sales) often the w4 is garbage anyway because that only applies to the salary portion of the income and the commissions are withheld at a flat 25%.

Then, finish becoming one and combine finances

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I knew the financial set up we have would be an unpopular flavor for most on here.

It all stems from going to the bank when we got engaged and got a house together 8-9 years ago and the banker said there was no reason to start a whole other bank account. I slide her money for bills every month plus any other expenses we're splitting and the rest is for us to use however we want.

Gotta admit whenever I wanna buy a new gun, fishing rod, duck decoys, etc etc….its kinda nice

But I did tell her last night it's time to have a joint account.

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Murphy's Law, if it ain't broke don't fix it! I wish I could take some of the crap back that I tried to fix!

In reply to mpl35

mpl35 said:

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Sooper Jeenyus said:

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Giving the government interest-free loans.

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Or not having to pay as much and possibly incur penalties. It is possible to claim zero dependents and single on the W4 withholding calculation and still pay taxes in April!

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Wife and I both claim married/0 and I withhold an extra $500 per check and I still owed $5000 this year. Dividends are great but really jack taxes up.

In reply to Breggy Popup

Breggy Popup said:

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mpl35 said:

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Sooper Jeenyus said:

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Giving the government interest-free loans.

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Or not having to pay as much and possibly incur penalties. It is possible to claim zero dependents and single on the W4 withholding calculation and still pay taxes in April!

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Wife and I both claim married/0 and I withhold an extra $500 per check and I still owed $5000 this year. Dividends are great but really jack taxes up.

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You sir sound like yall are closing in on my version of FU money. I like it. Being able to withhold $500 extra and still owe probably means you're pretty damn successful.

I'll admit, I'd like to have the same problem.

In reply to TH36

TH36 said:

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Breggy Popup said:

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mpl35 said:

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Sooper Jeenyus said:

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Giving the government interest-free loans.

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Or not having to pay as much and possibly incur penalties. It is possible to claim zero dependents and single on the W4 withholding calculation and still pay taxes in April!

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Wife and I both claim married/0 and I withhold an extra $500 per check and I still owed $5000 this year. Dividends are great but really jack taxes up.

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You sir sound like yall are closing in on my version of FU money. I like it. Being able to withhold $500 extra and still owe probably means you're pretty damn successful.

I'll admit, I'd like to have the same problem.

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We are successful and entering the last years of working life. Definitely nowhere near FU money though. Just the last couple of years dividends in our taxable investment accounts have been good, which hit taxes pretty solidly.

In reply to Breggy Popup

Breggy Popup said:

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TH36 said:

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Breggy Popup said:

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mpl35 said:

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Sooper Jeenyus said:

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Giving the government interest-free loans.

---

Or not having to pay as much and possibly incur penalties. It is possible to claim zero dependents and single on the W4 withholding calculation and still pay taxes in April!

---

Wife and I both claim married/0 and I withhold an extra $500 per check and I still owed $5000 this year. Dividends are great but really jack taxes up.

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You sir sound like yall are closing in on my version of FU money. I like it. Being able to withhold $500 extra and still owe probably means you're pretty damn successful.

I'll admit, I'd like to have the same problem.

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We are successful and entering the last years of working life. Definitely nowhere near FU money though. Just the last couple of years dividends in our taxable investment accounts have been good, which hit taxes pretty solidly.

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Unless you're in the top tax bracket or in a high tax state, $11k of extra taxes just from dividends means $73k at 15% qualified rates. At 2% yield slightly higher than the S&P you've got a $3.7mm brokerage account. Good for you.

In reply to mosdefn14 Where do you get $11k extra from just dividends? Dual income married/0 requires extra withholding off the hop. Investment income just causes fluctuation of taxes owed.

And I was mistaken. Last year I withheld an extra $300.

In reply to Breggy Popup Assuming your w4 withholds at least enough to cover taxes on wages (it should), and you withheld an extra $500/m plus $5000.. (500x12) + 5000 = $11,000 extra tax owed over wages.

$11k/15% qualified dividends tax rate = $73.3k
$73.3k/2% dividend yield assumption = $3.7mm

Back of the envelope internet math and all. Obviously I'm not including the extra medicare tax, and there's probably some capital gains mixed in there, especially if using tax inefficient vehicles (i.e. mutual funds, likely some at ST rated) and some income taxed at ordinary income or collectibles rates, but the post I was replying to inferred the extra tax burden was all from dividends.

In reply to mosdefn14 Yeah internet math and back of the napkin stuff is usually not very accurate. Let's just say you are way off.